


An Instant Connection

by x_mythicalxfireflies_x



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-06-07 19:18:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 41,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6820801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/x_mythicalxfireflies_x/pseuds/x_mythicalxfireflies_x
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She caught her attention from the very beginning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, yes, adding this fic as well :)

Ella smiled softly to herself as she stared out of the passenger side window of the truck her best friend owned. She watched as the tiny speckles of rain fell gracefully to the light reflected ground of the night. A small breath escaped past her soft lips in a yawn, causing the window to steam up due to the contrast of hot and cold, she watched it for a moment before blinking her eyes slowly as she brought her hand up to the window and began drawing patterns on the window mist.

“You going to come inside or just sit here all night?” A voice off to the side suddenly sounded and she retracted her hand quickly away from the window and into her lap, her face heated up a little in embarrassment from being too caught up in her thoughts to notice that the vehicle had actually come to a stop.

“Y-yes,” she chuckled out as she brought her hand up to the back of her neck and rubbed it.

“Sorry, I didn’t even realize we had stopped,” she sheepishly let out as a grin took over her face. “But, of course I am, Ash. Coffee is a definite must right now,” she spoke with a nod of the head as she shifted and reached for the door handle.

The blonde chuckled softly as she nodded her head. “Good, thought I lost you there for a second when you wouldn’t answer me to begin with.”

Ella chuckled again as she rolled her eyes and opened the door. An instant shiver took over her body as the bitter night air hit her. “Damn, it’s cold,” she mumbled to herself as she wrapped her arms around herself to try and shield away from the chilliness.

“Don’t be a baby,” Ashlyn laughed as she only just heard the mumble coming from the other girl.

Rolling her eyes again, Ella shook her head slowly. “Shut up! It’s freezing out here!”

Ashlyn laughed again and nodded her head slowly in return as they began to walk towards the café in which they spent most of their nights in. “Then we better get inside. Don’t need you turning into an ice sculpture,” she teased out.

Ella was quick to raise her right arm and push the blonde away in retaliation to her teasing. “Don’t be rude!” She sighed as they entered the building to see the place slightly crowded like usual. This was one of the popular coffee shops in the city, so they weren’t surprised by it at all, especially since most nights they have an open mic. But like always there was a spot in the far back corner reserved for them.

Making their way through the crowd, Ashlyn’s step faltered only a little, but it didn’t go unnoticed by Ella and the girl quickly raised her gaze to see Ali, the cute Barista girl that Ashlyn has had a crush on for quite some time, but has always been too nervous to actually ask her out on a proper date. A smirk found its way onto her face as she looked from Ali to Ashlyn and then back before she raised her hand in the air. “Hey Ali!” She called out quickly and saw the girl quickly turn towards them.

Ashlyn’s eyes widened completely as she heard her best friend call out and she quickly turned to Ella and gave her an unimpressed look in which the other girl just busted out in laughter. “Not cool,” she whispered out in annoyance as she saw the brunette make her way over.

“Hey girls!” Ali let out happily as she grinned that nose crinkled smile and Ashlyn felt her heart stop in her chest for a moment before it began to race at the speed of light.

“Hey, Alex,” she let out as calmly as she possibly could before she grinned brightly to hide the fact that she couldn’t control her beating heart. “How’s work treating you?”

“Not bad, a little busy, but nothing me and the crew can’t handle,” she said with a nod before looking to Ella and smiling softly before turning her attention back to the blonde. “You girls are just in time for the start of the open mic session,” she let out before she chuckled lightly at Ella groaning.

“Oh great….” Ella whispered to herself before rolling her eyes.

“Now, come on, Ella… not everyone is that bad…” Ali chuckled and the other brunette just stared at her with a blank expression before she shook her head.

“Yeah right…” she rolled her eyes but smiled.

“Anyway, I should get back to work. The usual for the both of you?” “Yeah, thank you,” Ashlyn smiled with a nod.

“Alright, great. Shouldn’t be too long then,” Ali smiled back and lingered her look a little longer than either of them both had expected, but Ella caught on and smirked knowingly before Ali quickly shook her head and turned around to head back to behind the counter to prepare their drinks.

“Come on, Casanova,” Ella laughed as she gently pushed Ashlyn in the direction of their table.

Stumbling forward only a little, due to being caught off guard by the little push, Ashlyn turned back to look at Ella and gave her a pointed look before she rolled her eyes and turned back to in front of her as she reached the table and sat down. “That was uncalled for.” “So was your drooling,” Ella quickly teased back not missing a beat.

Ashlyn pursed her lips and stared at the girl unimpressed before she let out a soft laugh and shook her head while rolling her eyes once more. “Whatever.”

\----

About twenty minutes had gone by when Ali finally approached with their coffees just as another performer had stepped up on the stage.

“Sorry about the wait, up front just got crazy and didn’t have a spare minute for a while,” the Barista apologized sincerely and Ashlyn couldn’t help but smile at how adorable she was.

“No, it’s absolutely fine. We’re not in any rush, so you could have taken as long as you needed,” Ashlyn said smoothly and Ella couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped her, earning herself a glare in return.

“Yeah, it’s cool, Al, no worries,” Ella quickly spoke as she turned her attention to Ali, not even paying attention to the burning gaze Ashlyn was giving her.

Ali smiled softly looking at both of them and chuckled softly to herself at the look the blonde was giving Ella before shaking her head and grinning bigger. “Well, I should probably get back to work, I’ll drop by again soon,” she nodded before giving a wink to the blonde and all Ashlyn could do was smirk in return as she watched the girl walk back towards the counter, she stared a

little longer until Ella coughed.

“What?” She asked innocently as she quickly turned her head away from the counter and towards her friend.

Ella grinned brightly as she laughed loudly over the chatter and singing that she had purposely tuned out for the time being. “You seriously need to just ask her out already.”

Ashlyn’s left eyebrow quickly quirked upwards as she looked at the girl in confusion. “I have no idea what you are talking about,” she mused out.

“Yeah, I’m sure you don’t…” Ella smirked before she tuned back into the performance just as they were ending and groaned again. “I wish they would at least have some talent at these things. I mean I am no professional singer, but mostly everyone who sings is tone deaf.”

Ashlyn laughed and nodded slowly. “I hate to agree, but I do. But what can you do? An open mic is an open mic and anyone is allowed to sing.”

Ella huffed softly and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know,” she sighed as she heard the person in charge of it announce there was a new comer in town and they had asked to perform. “Joy…” she whispered softly as she turned her attention to her coffee as everyone clapped their hands in a welcoming and supportive manner as they were instructed.

“Uh, thanks for the wonderful support you guys,” the woman on stage let out and her Canadian accent filled Ella’s hearing senses almost immediately as she shot her gaze up to the stage, her breath getting caught in her throat at the sight of the gorgeous brunette standing there. Thankfully Ashlyn wasn’t paying much attention to her, so she was safe from being teased at for almost giving herself whiplash. “I’ll be singing a little song by Adele,” she continued as she adjusted her guitar around her shoulder and grinned to the crowd.

As soon as the girl began to sing, Ella’s attention was caught almost immediately and she never once took her eyes off of the girl as she performed. _Finally someone with a gorgeous voice._ Ella thought to herself as she absently leaned slightly forward. This action however had caught Ashlyn’s attention and the blonde stared at her in confusion, before she followed the girl’s gaze which was fixated on the woman up the front singing.

This time it was Ashlyn who wore a knowing smirk on her face as she looked back and forth before raising her eyebrows and taking a sip of her coffee.

The woman finally finished up her song and everyone in the place gave her a standing ovation as they all cheered happily in appreciation of how good she was. “Thanks so much guys, you are all lovely,” she quickly said into the mic as a shy smile took over her face while she scanned the room, finally her gaze met Ella’s and she lingered for a moment before smiling softly and turning away.

Ella’s face instantly heated up and she knew for sure that she was blushing and that made her quickly turn her gaze to the table. Looking up after a moment of controlling her behaviour, she was met with a bemused looking Ashlyn. “What?” she asked while rolling her eyes.

“Oh, nothing….” Ashlyn smirked.

Shaking her head, she sighed softly and took a sip of her coffee. “Yeah, sure,” Ella mumbled out.

The rest of the night consisted of both; Ashlyn stealing glances at Ali and Ella stealing glances at the mysterious girl with the gorgeous voice until the woman stood up and began packing her things away as she began to give the group of girls she was hanging around a massive hug goodbye before she headed out of the café with one of them on her heels. A small frown found it’s way onto her face and she sighed silently.

“Ready to go whenever you are, Ash.” She let out softly to the blonde and the girl just nodded.

“Then let’s head out.” She smiled as she got up from the table and began to make her way over to the counter to pay for their drinks. Ella right behind her let out a breath and rolled her eyes.

“You’re paying again?” She sighed.

“Yeah, no arguments.”

“You know I have enough money to pay for us at least once or maybe ten times.”

“I know, but whatever, I have the money already out.”

“You’re such a persistent ass when it comes to paying for things.”

“Oi, shut up! You are getting free coffee.”

“Please, I never asked for it.”

“Just shut up and go out to the truck, I will be right behind you.”

“Mhm, give Ali my love!” Ella grinned as she made a kissy face and scampered out of the place before Ashlyn could retaliate.

Ashlyn sighed before turning her attention to the counter again and paying for their coffees, she smiled and said goodbye to Ali before turning and heading out after her best friend.

\----

Ella was rudely awakened from her slumber by her alarm blaring through the room. Opening one eye, she groaned to herself before she brought her arms up to wrap around her head as she sighed. Staying in that position for another moment, she finally had enough of the noise and quickly rolled over and slammed her hand against the snooze button. Letting out a soft breath of content at the silence that took over. She rolled back and stayed laying in her bed for just a moment longer before she rolled out of it this time to get ready for the day at work.

“Morning, Sunshine!” Ashlyn happily greeted her as she walked into the kitchen of their apartment after getting ready.

“Good morning,” Ella simply replied before making her way over and grabbing a bowl for her breakfast.

“Excited for the day?”

“Aren’t I always?”

“Of course,” Ashlyn grinned and Ella rolled her eyes with a smile.

“Where’s Whit?”

“Was up earlier than both of us and went out for breakfast, she’s going to meet us at work.” “Fair enough,” Ella smiled as she turned her attention to her food.

After breakfast, the pair of them made their way outside and towards the music store in which they worked at, it wasn’t a fair distance from where they lived, so walking there was no problem - In fact they enjoyed it more than driving and today was a better day to walk as there was no rain pelting down around them.

“Ahh! Good to see you two are on time!” Their boss, Christie let out as they entered the shop.

“What are you talking about? We are always on time!” Ashlyn let out with a chuckle.

“Except for maybe that one or… five times,” Ella continued through a laugh.

“You’re lucky the pair of you are hard workers and I like you,” Christie shook her head as she rolled her eyes. “Whitney is already in the back, there are CDs that need to be stacked on the shelves and instruments that need to be put on display.”

“Aye, Aye, Captain!” Ella let out playfully as she saluted her and this made their boss shake her head again in amusement as she just walked away.

“Come on, Dork. We have a job to do,” Ashlyn laughed as she pulled the girl towards the back room.

“Hey, Whit!” Ashlyn greeted her as they entered the room.

“Hey, you two. Sorry I didn’t wake you up to see if you wanted to join me for breakfast, figured you needed the sleep, since you weren’t home by the time I went to sleep.” “It’s cool, but I am still mad at you for not coming out last night!” Ashlyn pouted.

“Hey, I said I was tired!” Whitney defended herself once again.

Ashlyn chuckled and shook her head. “It’s okay, but you missed out on Ella drooling over this new girl that sung on stage. Pretty sure she was Canadian.”

Ella’s eyes widened slightly as she quickly reached over and slapped the blonde’s arm as her face heated up again. "I was not!"

“Damn… now I wish I was there to see that.”

“Stop!” Ella whined. “We have a job to do!” She quickly said to change the subject.

Both of the girls nodded in agreement as they turned back towards the stack of cds but not before sharing a knowing look.

\----

Half an hour had gone by and people started to arrive in the store. The chime of the bell went off to announce new customers had entered the place, but Ella was too busy restacking CDs onto the shelves as well as humming and dancing to the song playing through the store to even bother to look up to see who had entered.

“I heard this was one of the best music stores in town,” one of the woman who had entered the store spoke out to her friend.

“Alright perfect, let’s have a look around shall we,” the other woman said.

Ashlyn looked up from the front desk and an instant smirk found its way onto her face as she quickly turned her gaze to Ella, noticing that the girl was too caught up in what she was doing. Leaning back a little she nudged Whitney who was staring at a piece of paper that had the deliveries for the day on it and was marking the things off.

“Mmm?” She hummed out as she turned her attention to girl with a curious look.

“See that brunette over there? The one next to the girl with the curly hair,” she began.

“Yeah?”

“That’s the girl that Ella was drooling over last night,” she finished with a smirk still plastered on her face.

“Oh, the Canadian?”

“Yep.”

Whitney laughed as she turned her attention to Ella. “And she has no idea that the girl is even here.”

“Nope,” Ashlyn laughed as she moved away from Whit and made her way over to the two girls. “Hey, welcome to Electrical Beats, if you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask any of our lovely staff,” she let out to them with a dimpled smile.

“Will do and thanks,” the curly haired girl responded.

“Anyway, I’m Ashlyn,” she greeted politely after a moments silence.

“Carm and this is Erin,” she pointed to the girl next to her as she held out her hand for Ashlyn to shake in which she happily did and then she shook Erin’s hand.

“Well, I am going to go on a hunch here and say that you’re new to the town.”

Erin chuckled lightly and nodded her head. “How’d you guess?”

“Your accents kind of gave it away,” Ash nodded slowly and they all laughed. Ella’s attention was finally caught at the laughter and she quickly looked up from what she was doing and over into the direction the sound had come from. _Oh fuck…_

“Well, anyway… I better go check on the other costumers, as I said before, if you need any help don’t hesitate to ask me or Whit,” she pointed to the girl behind the counter and Whitney gave them a small wave with a smile. “Or Ella,” she said slowly with a smirk on her face as she pointed to the girl in the aisle they were standing in front of.

Ella’s eyes widened as she saw Ashlyn begin to turn to her and she quickly turned to walk away to avoid eye contact with the woman from last night, but she forgot how close she was to the shelf and she ran straight into it before falling to the floor as CDs followed.

Ashlyn and Whitney couldn’t help the laugh that escaped them, which echoed throughout the store.

Ella however groaned to herself as she stayed face first, flat on the ground, not daring to move at

all.

“Are you alright?” A familiar voice surrounded her with concern but also had a hint of amusement lacing her tone.

Ella closed her eyes as she let out a small silent breath, her face heating up completely and she knew she was blushing in complete embarrassment, lifting her head up only a little she responded. “Yeah, just checking out the floor…” she let out before she could stop herself and she squeezed her eyes shut as she mentally face palmed herself for making that stupid remark. _Seriously?_

“Oh?” The woman let out in amusement. “And how is it?”

“Super comfy…” she let out again and this time she cursed silently to herself. _Shut up, Ella!_

_Fucking hell… can you be any more ridiculous?_

Erin laughed this time and that laugh filled Ella’s senses completely and she felt her heart begin to race. _Ugh, what is happening!?_ She thought to herself because truth be told she was never really attracted to females - or at least that's what she thought, but for some reason this mysterious girl had caught her attention out of the blue and so quickly that she isn't unsure what is really happening. “Right-e-oh,” Erin let out with even more amusement as she walked back over to Carm to not further embarrass the poor girl that was still on the floor.

Ella stayed in her position for a little longer until Ashlyn came over towards her.

“It’s cool, she isn’t in sight anymore.”

Groaning once more, she sat up and turned to a completely amused Ash. “Shut up!”

“What!” The blonde said as she raised her hands in defense. “I didn’t say anything.”

“No, but you were about to.”

Ash smirked as she folded her arms across her chest and laughed lightly. “Have a nice trip?” She said after a moment, not being able to keep her mouth shut, it was too priceless to not bring up.

“Ugh, don’t go there!” Ella quickly said as she face palmed and shook her head before actually laughing as she couldn’t help herself. “God, that was embarrassing,” she chuckled out amused at herself as she got up from the floor and began picking up the CDs which had fallen.

“And it was pure entertaining for us!” Ashlyn teased.

“Go away, you ass!” Ella retaliated as she pushed her away playfully.

Chuckling, the blonde began to walk back towards the counter where Whitney was standing - still amused by all of it as well - but stopped suddenly and turned back to Ella. “Oh, by the way... her name is Erin.”

“What?” Ella let out confused.

“The girl you are fixated on.”

“I am not!” Ella glared at her.

“Sure, sure,” Ashlyn laughed as she continued her way over to Whit.

_Erin…_


	2. Chapter 2

Ashlyn finished talking to a customer and made her way slowly to the back room, smiling at a few people here and there before finally slipping into the room. “Ah, there you are!” She let out without warning and Ella jumped while letting out a breath.

“Shit, Ash. Don’t do that!” Ella let out as she brought her hand up to her chest and tried to regain her breathing as well as trying to slow down her beating heart that was racing like mad.

Ashlyn giggled softly before giving her an innocent look. “Whoops, sorry.”

Ella rolled her eyes and laughed softly. “Yeah, sure you are.”

“What are you doing back here?”

This time Ella raised an eyebrow and brought her other hand up that was holding a record album in it and waved it about. “Sorting through these, so I can go restock what is needed.” “Right, of course,” Ashlyn tilted her head up in a nod and then slowly lowered it.

“Why, what else did you think I was doing?”

“Oh, you know…” the blonde began as she walked over and leaned her elbows on one of the stack of boxes that was around her height and rested her chin on the palm of her hands. “Thought you were hiding from a certain someone,” she grinned

Ella groaned and rolled her eyes as she shook her head slowly with a smile. “Well, no, you can definitely cross that off your list. I am working remember. Not much I can say for you though.”

“Hey, I am working! I am just good at multitasking!”

“Right then,” the brunette began as she bent down and picked up a pile of records she had sorted through before standing back up and turning to Ash. “As nice as this is, the shelves aren’t going to stack themselves,” she let out softly while beginning to walk backwards out of the room. “You can be helpful and carry some more out, you know.” She continued before turning around and bumping straight into someone, dropping the records in the process. “God, damn it!” She hissed out as she kneeled down and let out a breath. “I am so sorry!” She continued to the person in front of her, not looking up, she rolled her eyes as she heard Ashlyn laughing from inside the room.

“No, I should apologize,” the person said before chuckling lightly as they bent down and began helping her pick the records up. “Question, though, do you always make a habit of running into things whether they be inanimate or not?” They said in amusement and Ella chuckled softly while shaking her head, not really paying attention to the voice.

“No, I…” she began as she raised her gaze and was instantly greeted with the face she had been trying to actually avoid. Standing up, she tossed the records from one arm to the other and reached out for the ones the other woman was holding. “I…uh,” she coughed as she brought her free hand to her mouth after taking the things from Erin and smiled as a blush instantly danced across her cheeks. “No, I don’t,” she chuckled. “I mean not really….often” she continued through a quiet mumble, not really sure of what she was even saying anymore.

Erin laughed softly as she slowly nodded her head. “Guess, that’s good to know then,” she smiled as she looked at the girl intently, she tilted her head and gave the girl a look causing Ella to raise her eyebrows curiously. “Wait, weren’t you at that Café last night? I can’t remember what it was called however.”

Ella’s eyes widened as she looked around the store before she turned her attention back to Erin and coughed again. “Uh, yeah… I was.”

The Canadian smirked as she nodded her head slowly. “In the back corner right? I thought I remembered seeing you.”

Letting out a small breath of disbelief, Ella nodded her head in return. “It’s nice to know you keep track of people’s faces.”

Erin chuckled lightly as she bought back the smirk that was on her face from just moments before. “Especially the pretty ones,” she countered back as she moved her eyebrows up and down quickly in a suggestive manner.

Ella tilted her head to the side as she lowered her gaze to the ground and let out a laugh which lit up her entire face and Erin could have sworn it was one of the cutest things she has ever seen by far. Even more so when she saw another blush form its way onto the girl’s face and the Canadian couldn’t help but stare.

The girl continued her little laugh until she heard a faint cough come from inside the back room she had just left and she turned her head slowly to see Ashlyn with an amused knowing look on her face and she slowly stopped laughing while rolling her eyes, but she didn’t remove the smile from her face. ‘Piss off.’ Ella mouthed as she smiled bigger and shook her head with a slight chuckle. She turned her attention back to Erin. “Uh, anyway… can I help you at all?” She asked politely.

Erin chuckled lightly as shook her head a little breaking the concentration she had on the adorable music store worker and brought her thought back to what she originally needed. “Yeah, actually you can. I was just wondering if you had Rihanna’s ‘Unapologetic’ album in stock? Couldn’t seem to find it on the shelf, so, I figured you might have it in the back hopefully.”

“Oh, uh…’ Ella began as she turned her head to look back into the room where Ashlyn was.

“Hey, Ash… do you know if we have any of Rihanna’s album in stock?”

Ashlyn quickly looked up from the CDs she was sorting to keep herself occupied and not really paying to the conversation anymore. “Which one?” The blonde called back.

“Unapologetic.”

“Um, let me just have a look.”

Ella nodded slowly as she turned her attention back to Erin and smiled softly at her, knowing the girl had already heard what Ashlyn had said. After a few seconds Ella began to rock back and forward on the spot and the other woman couldn’t help but chuckle as she had noticed it.

“So, I am Erin,” She let out softly to break the silence that had surrounded them as she held out her hand.

The younger girl smiled as she began to reach for the held out hand “I know,” she mumbled softly as she took a hold of it.

“Excuse me?” She said slightly amused and Ella’s eyes widened.

“I mean… I – uh, I’m Ella.” She stammered out.

Erin gave her a completely amused look as she slowly nodded. “I know.” She mimicked, causing

Ella to chuckle nervously. “Your name tag kind of gives that away.”

“My…” Ella began before lowering her gaze to the tag on her shirt that had her name on it and she laughed even more embarrassed. “Right, my name tag…” she whispered out as she brought her hand to her face and shook her head still laughing softly to herself.

Erin was about to respond when Ashlyn finally walked out of the back room with a CD in her hand.

“You’re in luck,” she smiled to Erin as she held out the album for the woman before turning her attention to her best friend and raising an eyebrow at the redness of her cheeks before looking at her in amusement causing Ella to quickly glare at her and slowly shook her head.

“Ah, awesome. Been meaning to get this album for ages and just kept forgetting.” Erin let out happily as she took the CD case from Ash.

“Glad we had one in stock for you then. Just in case you forgot the next time you entered a music store,” Ashlyn teased.

Erin laughed softly and nodded her head. “Yeah, I am glad you did too.”

“Hey Erin!” A voice suddenly sounded from somewhere behind the girl and she quickly turned to see Carm. “Look what I found!” She yelled a little as she raised up a Spice Girl’s CD and waved it about in a little dance. “Spice up your life baby!” She laughed not really caring about the looks she was getting from the other customers.

Erin laughed as she shook her head and Ella couldn’t help but be mesmerised by it. “Stop. Right now. Thank you very much,” she countered back in amusement as Carm just winked at her with a thumbs up and a massive grin before turning her attention back to the going down an aisle to look at more CDs.

Erin continued to laugh as she slowly turned back around to see both of the girls looking amused at what just happened and the Canadian just continued to smile brightly before it softened. “Anyway, I should probably let the two of you get back to work,” she nodded as she thanked them again for finding the CD and turned to head back to Carm.

About another fifteen minutes had gone by when Erin and Carm finally approached the front counter - that had Ashlyn behind it - to make their purchases.

“Ah, all done are we?” Ashlyn smiled as she looked up from the laptop screen she was currently focused on.

“Yeah, just these.” Erin nodded as she handed over a couple of CDs and one record.

Ashlyn smiled as she took the items from the girl and scanned the barcodes, telling them the price, she took the money and gave them the correct change before pulling out a plastic bag that was accustomed made with their companies logo on it and placed the items inside it before handing the bag over to Erin.  “Hope you have a lovely day and hopefully see you around,” she let out in the process as the other girl took the bag.

“You too,” they both replied back before making their way out of the store.

\----

Kaylyn was sitting on the couch in the apartment they had rented for the time being while being in town when the two girls walked in. Tilting her head and looking over her shoulder, the blonde smiled softly. “Have a good day out?”

Carm was the first to speak. “Yeah, we did. Erin even managed to knock over one of the girl’s working at the music store we went to and there is no doubt that she fancies her as well,” she let out with a wink as Erin’s mouth instantly fell open as her eyes widened.

“Uh, yeah... no! Ella walked into me, thank you very much,” she bantered back quickly.

“Ella, eh?” Kaylyn quickly let out as she raised her eyebrows and smirked.

Erin groaned as she rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Shut up, man.”

“Nah, come on, Bud. You like her just a little, you can admit it,” Carm continued.

“Look, I don’t even know her, so how can I? She just happened to run into me and I helped her pick the stuff she dropped,” she paused for a moment. “Also, she is probably straight, not every girl we run into is into girl’s you know...”

“Yeah, while having a grand ol’ conversation with her.” Carm laughed softly to answer the first part of the conversation before she smirked. “I know that, but there’s also a possibility that she isn’t so straight. I mean by the way she was looking at you…” she mumbled the last part.

Erin sighed while she slowly shook her head, ignoring the last comment that was mumbled from her best friend. “It would have been rude of me to just walk off without helping, plus I also remembered her from last night and I needed to know if they had the CD I wanted.”

Carm’s eyebrow instantly raised as she looked over to Kaylyn to see the girl had the same expression on her face as she herself looked towards her and they shared a look. “Last night?”

“Yeah, when I finished singing, I noticed she was the girl in the back of the room that I saw.”

“Yeah, Bud, because remembering random people’s faces is just a thing you do.”

Erin rolled her eyes as she groaned, realizing that Carm did have a point and that maybe she did like her, but seriously she didn’t even know the girl – all she knew for sure was that she found Ella incredibly adorable and that she was completely drawn to her for whatever reason. “Guys, shut up and let’s just eat.”

Carm chuckled as she nodded her head slowly before turning her complete attention to Kaylyn. “I’d say we’ll be making quite a few pit stops to Electrical Beats while we’re staying here,” she whispered loud enough for Erin to hear and she turned to see the girl glaring at her unamused.

“Easy Tiger, I’m just messing around.”

“Whatever,” she mumbled out while all she could hear was the pair of them laughing.

\----

_Three Days later_

It was a quiet afternoon in the music store and Ella was found propped on a stool near the front desk mucking around with the chords on a guitar, while Whitney was staring at a sheet of paper, trying to figure out what items needed to be restocked – which meant she needed to order them as soon as possible. Ashlyn was in one of the aisles sorting through the CDs that had been misplaced throughout the day when the chime of the bell to say new people had entered the store went off.

Whitney and Ella quickly shot their gazes up and a smirk found its way onto both of their faces.

“Good afternoon, Ali,” Ella quickly let out loud enough for Ash to quickly whip her head around to see the brunette standing by the desk.

“Good afternoon,” she smiled back to both of them as she raised her gaze and looked around the empty store to see Ashlyn making her way over. Ali smiled just a little bigger as she raised her hand in the air and gave a small wave. “Hey, Ash,” she let out softly as the blonde finally came to a stop next to her.

“Afternoon, Alex,” she quickly replied back.

“Not a busy day?” Ali asked as she motioned to how quiet the place was.

“Ah, no! You just missed the rush hour, it was damn crazy earlier on in the day.”

“Right, well good to have the down time then?”

“Most definitely,” Ella and Whitney said at the exact same time which caused all of them to laugh.

“Great,” she smiled softly.

“You working tonight?” Ashlyn asked curiously to Ali and the other two girl’s shared a look as she turned their attention back to what they were previously doing.

“Nope, I have the night off, thank God,” she let out through a tired sigh before she smiled brightly. “But Pinoe wants to go out for some karaoke tonight after her shift at the café for whatever damn reason is beyond me, so was wondering if you girls were free? We will probably go out for some drinks afterwards.”

“That sounds great to me,” Ashlyn quickly replied as she nodded her head.

“Perfect,” Ali smiled and just stared at her for a moment before realizing where she was and she quickly shook her head out of her trance while coughing and looked towards the other two people in the room. “Uh, Whit? Ella?” she quickly mumbled out as her face began to get a pink tinge to

it.

“Yeah, seems like fun,” Whit nodded.

“Sure, I’m in.” Ella smiled as she tried her best to keep in the laugh that was threatening to escape.

“Awesome, what time do you guys finish?”

Whitney looked to her watch and saw that it was almost 3:30 in the afternoon. “We close the store at 6, so another like another 2 and a half hours,” she replied.

“Great, Pinoe finishes at 6:30, so I will text you where and when we will meet up,” Ali smiled in Ashlyn’s direction.

“We’ll be waiting,” Ash replied as Ali turned around and headed out of the store.

“More like you’ll be waiting…” Ella mumbled through a whisper towards Whitney causing her to chuckle.

“Shut it, Ella,” Ashlyn rolled her eyes.

\---

“I swear that last hour was mocking us,” Ashlyn sighed as she walked into the apartment with her two best friends on her heels.

“Yeah, it was totally mocking you,” Whitney teased as she walked past the blonde and patted her on the back.

“Ugh, seriously!” Ashlyn groaned as she shook her head.

Ella just smirked as she headed towards her room to get ready.

After about forty five minutes, the three best friends were all sitting in the lounge room watching the TV when Ashlyn’s phone suddenly buzzed on the table in front of them. Quickly lunging forward – which earned stifled laughs from the other two girls – Ashlyn quickly grabbed her phone and read the message.

_We’ll meet you guys at The Singing Den about 8?_

_Sounds good to me._

_See you soon xo_

Ashlyn smiled at the last text message and stared for a moment before looking up. “We’re meeting them at The Singing Den at 8,” Ashlyn confirmed as she turned her attention back to the TV.

After about twenty more minutes, the girl’s finally decided to make their way towards the Karaoke bar.

“Let’s hope tonight is a good night,” Ashlyn smiled to both of them as they came in sight with the place and the other two just nodded their head.

“Oh, I am sure it will be a fantastic night,” Ella smirked.

“Don’t,” Ashlyn rolled her eyes and Whitney just chuckled.

“You know we love you right and you love us.”

“Sometimes I am not so sure!”

Ella fakes gasped as she playfully pushed the blonde. “Jerk.”

Ashlyn smirked as she chuckled lightly. “Nah, love you.”

The three let out a soft laugh as they made their way inside to find Ali and Pinoe already there.

“Hey!” Ali quickly let out as she saw the girl’s walk in.

"Aye, my bitches!" Pinoe called out in amusement as she pulled them all into a group hug and smiled brightly as she pulled away.

"Sup, Pinoe," Whitney grinned.

"Hey, girlies," Ella greeted them.

“Evening!” Ashlyn smiled. “How are the pair of you?” “I’m good,” Ali respond.

“I am good as well, just ready for a good night out,” Pinoe replied. “You guys readyyyy!?” “Hell yeah!” they all replied in one way or another.

“Sweet, let’s get a room,” Pinoe smiled as she made her way over to the front desk and after a moment of clearly flirting with the girl in charge, she came back with their room number and headed towards it.

“So, glad they have separate rooms for these things, so we don’t get annoyed by complete randoms,” Ashlyn let out.

“Same here, dude!” Pinoe replied as they entered it and began setting everything up.

“Mhm,” the rest just mumbled out.

“Here’s to a fun night!” Pinoe called out once everything was up and ready.

Everyone just cheered in agreement.

\----

“Hey, bud,” Carm called out to Erin from outside her room.

“Yeah?” She called back.

“Wanna come do some karaoke with me and the girls?”

“Hell yeah! Be ready soon.”

“Awesome, we are leaving in thirty minutes.” “Alright!” She called out.

_Night out with everyone should be good._


	3. Chapter 3

A soft laugh had moved passed Ella’s lips and danced throughout the already noisy room. She moved her right hand to cover her eyes for a brief moment while shaking her head in amusement before looking back towards the two blondes singing outrageously along with P!nk’s song ‘so what’. Her laugh was also being echoed by Ali and Whitney as they all continued to pay attention to Ashlyn and Pinoe trying to outdo each other with a few ridiculous dance moves here and there.

The song finally came to an end which caused both Ash and Pinoe to turn around to the others with massive grins plastered on their faces, not really caring about who did the better job of the song. Megan began to toss the microphone in her hand around as she raised her eyebrows curiously.

“Alright who’s next?” She asked cheerfully.

The three girls that were situated on the lounge which surrounded the area began to look around at each other until a voice suddenly sounded.

“I will,” Ali quickly spoke out as she stood with a smirk on her face and a look of determination in her eyes. “Me and you,” she rose her eyebrow quickly and moved over to grab the mic from Ashlyn, she mumbled a thanks to her as a faint blush spread across her cheeks as their hands touched for a brief moment. The blonde grinned widely and nodded a little before slipping past Ali and over to sit on the lounge next to Whitney.

Ella looked around the room before she quickly stood up from her position, startling Whit who was next to her. The girl raised a curious eyebrow as she couldn’t help the amused look that spread across her face. “I’m going to go get some drinks, does anyone want anything in particular?” She finally announced to the room.

“Just grab a whole bunch of beers, we will go out for proper drinks later,” Pinoe spoke as she waved her hand about, everyone hummed in agreement causing Ella to smile with a nod before turning and heading for the door.

“You’re going down, Pinoe!” She heard Ali tell her friend as she opened the door and headed out of it, closing it behind her, she let out a small chuckle and raised her gaze to look around the main area of the building. She was about to head for the bar when something – more importantly someone – caught her attention and she allowed her gaze to drift in the direction of the entrance. Her breath instantly hitched in her throat at the familiar figure standing by the front desk among a group of women. Her eyes instantly went wide as well as her heart began to race in her chest as she continued to stare with her mouth slightly agape as she saw the woman looking around the area.

After a moment, she finally came back into reality and shook her head slightly, her heart was still racing in her chest as she looked around the place once more before quickly turning around and heading back to the room, she fumbled around with the door handle and once she got it open, she stumbled in so quickly that it startled everyone in the room, she quickly shut the door and leaned back against it to catch her balance before she fell over. _That seriously wasn’t a normal reaction to seeing someone you hardly know, Ella…_

Everyone’s eyes widened as they just stared at the girl who had randomly dived back into the room without warning and everyone was silent, the looks on their faces resembled that of confusion, but also slightly amused. The only noise coming was from the song moving through the room from the speakers. It wasn’t until Ash spoke that Ella finally realized what she had done and everyone else began to laugh.

“You okay there?” The blonde let out in confusion but also had a major hint of amusement lacing her tone.

Ella quickly shot her gaze to Ash and nodded furiously. “I, uh, yeah…I, well…” she stammered out and everyone in the room couldn’t hold back the chuckles that escaped them even more. The girl closed her eyes for a brief moment, trying to calm down and come up with a reasonable reason to what just happened - that as well as trying to control her rapidly beating heart that she swore everyone could hear as her head was spinning out of control. _Really, what the hell just happened!_

Finally she slowly opened her eyes after a moment as she took a breath in and slowly let it out. “Uh, I just realized that I probably won’t be able to carry all the drinks back,” she let out softly, not exactly lying, because it was partially the truth, but she just didn’t want to tell the whole truth because she already knew what the result would be.

“Oh!” Ashlyn quickly let out as she stood from her position on the lounge and quickly made her way over. “I’ll come help you then,” she smiled.

“Bu-“ she tried to counter back as she didn’t want the blonde to go out just yet, but it was too late because the girl was already guiding her out of the way and opening the door. Ella let out a soft breath as she closed her eyes and shook her head. _Damn it…_

Ashlyn stepped out of the room and turned back to Ella with a curious look. “You coming? Or do I have to go by myself,” she laughed softly.

“No, I am coming,” the brunette mumbled as she scurried out of the room behind Ashlyn and closed the door.

Ash nodded her head slowly as she turned back around and began to head towards the bar area only to stop a few steps in the direction of her destination as a smirk found its way onto her face as she saw a certain individual at the front desk. “Oh…” she trailed off as she turned to look at a confused Ella who had come to a halt beside her.

“Oh?” Ella began as she turned her attention to the entrance and saw exactly what Ashlyn was implying which drew a groan out of her and a bigger smirk to form on Ashlyn’s face.

“So, that’s the real reason why you came diving into the room like there was a fire outside,” she teased.

“Ugh, shut up!” Ella groaned again as she playfully pushed the blonde away causing Ash to laugh hysterically and a little louder than both of them really realized. Rolling her eyes, Ella raised them to where she had recently had them and noticed Erin already looking towards her, she smiled softly and felt her heart skip a beat as the other woman gave her a bright smile in return.

It wasn’t just a friendly smile that you would give some random passing by on a street – no, it was a smile that you’d give a friend that you’ve known for ages and even though she had no idea what was actually going on, she couldn’t help the blush that was forming its way onto her cheeks, she continued to smile shyly at the other girl, until Erin’s friend – the one with the curly hair in which she had no idea of her name– nudged her and she looked away and towards the group of friends she was with.

“Well, that’s entertaining,” a mumble quickly sounded from beside her and Ella quickly squinted her eyes as she turned to her best friend and glared at her with a raised eyebrow. Ashlyn chuckled as she shook her head at the look she was getting and grinned.

“No, seriously, shut the hell up,” she let out in annoyance as she puffed out some air and crossed her arms across her chest.

“Cheer up, Els. It looks like she has a thing for you too, so there definitely is a chance you can hook up with all of that,” she motioned with her hand in the direction of Erin and that earned her an even bigger glare from the girl.

Letting out a sigh, Ella brought her hands up to her face and shook her head. Lowering her hands, she pursed her lips together and stared at Ash for a moment before rolling her eyes. “Let’s just go get the drinks!” She quickly said as she moved over and gently pushed the girl in the direction they needed to go. Not realizing that the group of Canadians were heading that way as well.

\----

“Hey, Erin! We’re leaving now, hurry up and get your ass out here!” Carm yelled from the front door as the rest of the group made their way into the hallway of their apartment building.

“I’m coming! Jeeze, I said give me two second the last time you yelled at me!” Erin sighed as she made her way to where her friends were and saw Carm grin brightly at her.

“I just like to annoy you, Bud.”

“You’re the worst,” she rolled her eyes as she slipped past her and into the hallway, saying hi to all the girls.

“Yeah, but you love me,” Carm countered back as she followed her best friend out and locked the apartment door, she turned around and followed them out of the building.

“Dude, we’re gonna have so much fun!” KK called out to Erin as she came bouncing over to her and began hopping beside for a moment as they made their way towards The Singing Den.

Erin rolled her eyes and laughed. “Of course we are,” she grinned brightly as she began to skip with KK.

“Are we going out afterwards?” Sophie quickly piped in as she looked towards the two skipping like idiots and couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her.

“Don’t see why not, man. I’ve got names of places we can go out for drinks afterwards. Would just have to see how to get there,” Carm softly responded as she came up to walk beside Sophie and Kaylyn.

“Was it such a good idea to bring the children out tonight?” Sophie continued as she kept her eyes on the pair in front of them.

All Carm could do was shrug as a laugh escaped her. “Yeah, would probably be worse if they stayed locked up in the apartment together,” she finally said.

“That’s true,” Kaylyn quickly said slipping into the conversation.

They continued their little banter between each other when they finally reached the building and walked inside.

“Alright, I will go see if they have a vacant room,” Kaylyn announced as they began to walk to the front desk and hovered around it.

As the blonde began talking to the girl at the desk, Erin let her eyes wonder around the area filled with colourful lights, seats, tables and a crowd of people which were hanging about, either at the bar or in a group chatting around in which she allowed the buzz to fill her head, not being able to just focus on one conversation as there were so many people talking that even she felt like she couldn’t hear herself think over it all. As the chatter continued to surround her a familiar laugh took over her thoughts and she quickly let her eyes drift into its direction. Her heart instantly began to speed up in her chest as she saw Ella standing next to the laugh she had recognised as Ashlyn’s.

Erin was about to look away when she noticed Ella’s gaze turn to look towards her. When she smiled at her, though, the Canadian couldn’t help but smile in return, but what she didn’t realize was just exactly how big the smile actually was, but all that mattered to her was the adorable reaction she had gotten from the other girl, which was a shy smile that stayed plastered to her rosy cheeks.

Carm had turned her attention to Erin as soon as they finished talking to the lady at the desk and saw the girl with a bright smile on her face, raising a curious eyebrow, she followed her best friends gaze and found herself looking at the two girl’s from the music store they had visited about three days ago. A smirk tugged at the side of her lips as she rolled her eyes and held back to chuckle threatening to escape, she turned back to the group and then back to Erin; nudging her to get her attention.

“What?” Erin quickly said as she adverted her eyes from Ella and over to Carm, she rolled her eyes at the look she was giving her, knowing that her friend knew who she was staring at.

“A room should be vacant in about twenty minutes. We’re going to head over to the bar and grab a drink,” Carm informed her as she nudged her again in the direction they needed to go in.

\----

“Oh, hey!” Carm let out suddenly and everyone in their group quickly turned their gaze to the direction she was looking into to find two girl’s standing there, one blonde with tattoos covering her left arm and a brunette. Erin’s eyes widened slightly for a moment as she saw them which luckily went unnoticed by her friends and she let out a small silent breath as she adverted her eyes to the bar area.

“Ah! Hey,’ Ashlyn quickly said as she looked up at the voice and noticed who it was, she gave a friendly smile to Carm before turning to look at Ella while giving her a look in a teasingly manner.

Ella rolled her eyes and shook her head as she took a few steps closer to the bar, waiting for the worker behind it to take her order.

“How’s it going?” Ashlyn quickly asked as she turned back to the curly haired girl.

“Pretty good, just hoping to have a good night out with the girls,” she said casually as she tilted her head back towards the group of friends behind her.

Ashlyn’s gaze followed and smiled at all of them. “Sup, I’m Ashlyn,” she greeted with a small wave. “And this…” she began as she turned to look towards Ella and grabbed her while pulling her into a side hug.

“Oi!” Ella quickly let out in retaliation to her friend antics before the blonde's voice was being heard again.

“Is Ella,” she finished as she gave the woman a gentle squeeze.

Ella rolled her eyes as she forcefully pushed her way out of Ashlyn’s grip. “Dude, get lost, I need to order the drinks,” she mumbled out with a huff, as her face turned five shades of red – which she wasn’t sure if it was because she was embarrassed or annoyed; maybe it was a bit of both - as she turned back to the counter where the guy finally came up to take her order.

“Don’t mind her, she’s a little shy,” Ashlyn grinned and heard Ella sigh loudly which only caused her to chuckle even more.

“Well, hey, I’m Kaylyn,” She quickly let out as she held out her hand, Ashlyn quickly took a hold of it to shake before letting go and turning to the other women, who introduced themselves as well. An instant smirk was plastered to Kaylyn’s face as she turned to look at Erin, finally understanding why Erin was slightly smitten with this girl named Ella.

“Don’t,” Erin whispered knowing exactly where Kaylyn’s thoughts were going.

“What!?” The blonde defended herself as she raised her hands in the air. “She’s cute though…” she finally let out after a moment of silence and all that Erin could do was groan.

“Ashlyn! Can you hurry up and get over here to help me carry these back to the room!” Ella’s annoyed voice surrounded them and Ash couldn’t help but smile amused.

“Yeah, yeah! Calm down would you,” she spoke to her friend before turning to the group. “Anyway, must go help the drama queen with the drinks, but if you aren’t doing anything afterwards, then you all should come head out for some drinks with me, Ella and the rest of my friends,” Ashlyn suggested.

“Yeah, that’d be cool,” Carm nodded as the rest of them hummed in agreement.

“Right, here… put your number into my phone and I’ll text you the details,” she smiled as she handed her phone to the curly haired girl and watched her tap away at the phone before she handed it back. “Sweet, catch you girls later,” she smirked before turning around to an impatient looking Ella to help with the drinks. They then made their way back to the room with the beers.

\----

Around two hours and a text later, the two groups were at a crowded club either dancing, standing or sitting around while drinking and talking. However, Ella was found sitting by herself in a booth near the back corner while staring into her drink when Erin noticed her, she politely excused herself from the group she was hanging around to slowly make her way over to her.

Falling to the seat next to the girl, she leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes, not seeing the slight jump that escaped Ella at the sudden company. Letting out a soft breath, Erin opened her eyes and slowly turned her head towards the other woman. “So, I take it you don’t like dancing?”

Ella softly chuckled as she let out a bright smile and turned to look at Erin, her breath getting caught in her throat as the other woman was already looking at her and the smile turned to a shy one as she shook her head slowly. “Uh, no, just sitting out for a moment,” she responded softly.

Erin couldn’t help but be mesmerized by this girl she barely knew, the fact that she was drawn over to her baffled her, but she went along with it, because the more she hung out with Ella, the more hooked on her she got. “Fair enough,” she nodded as they fell into a comfortable silence until Erin broke it once again. “So, how’s work?”

“Yeah, it’s not so bad, always a little busy at certain times, but wouldn’t change it for the world,” she replied softly as she adverted her eyes back to the beer in her hand and began to spun it.

“Good to see you love your job.”

“Most definitely, especially working with those idiots over there every day always makes it worthwhile,” Ella responded as she nodded into the direction of Ashlyn and Whitney.

Erin nodded slowly as she followed the girl’s gaze before turning back to her with a smile she just couldn’t get rid of. “How was your karaoke night?”

While her hands fidgeted with the bottle in her hand absently, she turned her gaze back to Erin. “It was rather entertaining and not to mention completely hilarious,” she replied honestly as a chuckle escaped her at the thought of Pinoe and Ashlyn always trying to outdo everyone. “And yours?”

“Yeah, the same, the girls are a riot,” she laughed softly as she looked out towards the dance floor and let at a small breath as she turned back to Ella. “Well, you know what might make this night a little more fun?”

“Hmm?” Ella hummed. “What might that be?” She asked curiously.

“If we go dance,” Erin grinned and Ella felt her heart speed up even more in her chest at the sight.

“Oh, uh…”

“Come on, don’t be a party pooper!” Erin continued as she slid out of the booth and looked at the

girl still sitting there.

Ella let out a breath and closed her eyes. “Fine,” she mumbled as she herself slid out of the booth.

“Yay!” Erin let out happily and Ella couldn’t help but laugh as she shook her head.

Just as they began to head towards the floor, the song changed to a slower song as the dj informed the room to grab a special someone as he changed it to ‘Collide’ by Howie Day. Erin continued her step for a moment before turning around to Ella as she saw her step falter and she gave her a

look.

“Now come on! You aren’t gonna cower out on me now, are you?” She asked with a slight pout, but Ella was too lost in the look she was getting that she couldn't answer her. “Come on! I don’t bite!” Erin continued as she didn’t get a response out of the American and she reached for her hand, as soon as their hands touched it had felt like electricity and now both of their heartbeats were beating rapidly in sync as Erin pulled the shorter girl out onto the dance floor before pulling her in as close to her as possible.

Ella felt her heartbeat in every part of her body as she moved her arms up to wrap around Erin’s neck as she felt the older girl’s arms move to wrap around her waist, she still isn’t quite sure as to why she’s even drawn to Erin, but yet, she doesn’t want this feeling to stop.

As the song continued to play, Ella relaxed even more into the hold of the Canadian who was practically a stranger to her as she felt a sense of safety surround her and although she wouldn’t admit it to herself, she was definitely falling for this woman.

Erin sighed softly into the embrace, feeling a sense of contentment as she began to hum with the song and soon enough she was singing along with it which melted Ella’s heart – her voice was just too beautiful for Ella to deny.

"I'm quiet you know  
You make a first impression  
Well, I've found I'm scared to know  
I'm always on your mind

Even the best fall down sometimes Even the stars refuse to shine  
Out of the back you fall in time  
I somehow find  
You and I collide

Don't stop here  
I lost my place  
I'm close behind..."

“You have a beautiful voice,” Ella quietly chimed in as there was a break in the song.

Erin blushed lightly and mumbled a thank you.

“Just telling the truth,” she whispered again before the words of the song continued and she moved her head to rest against Erin’s chest, she could hear the Canadians heartbeat which was beating just as fast as her own and that brought a brighter smile to her face.

_God… I think I’m really falling for her._


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as the song changed to a slower beat, Ashlyn’s head instantly shot towards Ali and the group she was hanging around, she let out a small smile before she turned back and excused herself from Whitney, she then began heading towards the brunette. Whitney raised an eyebrow and as soon as she saw where her best friend had headed, she instantly smirked and began to drift her gaze around the rest of the area. Her gaze finally fell on her other bestie and her eyebrows shot up when she saw Ella being pulled to the dance floor by none other than the girl, Ashlyn and herself teased her about liking. With the smirk still placed on her face, she slowly walked over to the bar and sat on one of the vacant bar stools. Looking up, Whitney smiled at the girl behind the bar before ordering a beer.

The girl smiled in return with a nod as she turned around to grab a Corona and the bottle opener.

Popping off the cap, she looked back to Whitney and slid the drink to her.

“Cheers,” Whitney let out as she held the bottle up and raised it to her lips, taking a sip before she turned on her stool and leaned back against the bar as she began to observe her surroundings.

\----

Ashlyn slowly and as calmly as she possibly could made her way over to the group that Ali was chatting with, she stopped just beside the brunette and let out a soft charming grin. “Excuse me, Ladies,” she let out gently before looking to Ali. “But I was wondering if you would like to dance, Alex?” She asked with a held out hand.

Ali blushed lightly as she turned to look at Pinoe and Lori, the pair of them had a knowing smirk on their face and she just rolled her eyes before turning back to the blonde and smiled brightly. “Sure,” Ali let out softly as she took a hold of the girl’s hand and her heartbeat quickened that extra beat inside her chest as she was led towards the dance floor.

“I thought you were never going to ask,” Ali whispered through a mumble as Ashlyn pulled them as close as they possibly could be as soon as they came to a stop at their destination.

Ash chuckled lightly as a smirk found its way onto her face. “Was just waiting for the perfect song,” she winked and all Ali could do was blush. “I, uh… I also have a question to ask you.” Ali’s attention perked up at this. “Hmmm?” She hummed out curiously.

Taking in a breath, she could feel her whole body begin to beat as the nerves began to build up inside her and she stayed silent for a moment longer trying to gather her thoughts. “I… uh, well, would you… uh, would you maybe like to go to dinner with me next Friday night?” she let out slightly flustered.

Ali blushed as she bit her lip as a small chuckle moved past her lips. She continued to look at the other woman for a moment before she tilted her head. “As in a date?” She mumbled.

“Err, yeah?” Ashlyn let out nervously.

“Yes, I would love too,” she grinned brightly almost immediately as she felt her face heating up even more than before.

The blonde let out a breath of disbelief and astonishment. “Really?” She asked just to make sure she heard the girl right.

Ali shyly nodded her head slowly as she giggled. “Mmmhm, I mean who could say no to you?” “Ah, I knew you fancied me,” Ashlyn smirked as she got her composure back.

“Now come on, how could I not?” Ali’s face went a deeper shade of red and she was more than thankful for the slight darkness of the club which hid it. “I mean… you’re gorgeous and incredibly charming.”

“Well, you’re completely beautiful,” Ashlyn grinned.

Ali smiled brightly in return before her nerves hit her all at once and she lowered her gaze to the floor beside them as she mumbled something along the lines of thank you.

Ashlyn tilted her head to the side as she smiled softly, just admiring the girl for a second before she brought her right hand up to the brunette’s face and she raised Ali’s gaze until it met her own. She stared for what felt like forever and saw them shine back at her in the darkened room before she slowly began to lean in. “I mean it, Alexandra… you are the most beautiful girl I have ever met in my whole entire life and not just on the outside but on the inside as well,” she let out sincerely in a soft whisper.

Ali’s heartbeat raced through her whole body as her breath got caught in her throat, bringing her bottom lip between her teeth, she began to feel a little light headed and was thankful for the blonde’s arm around her keeping her steady. As Ashlyn spoke, Ali absently began leaning in and by the time the girl had finished talking, Ali's lips were instantly met with the blonde’s and she felt the spark almost immediately that it felt like fireworks were going off and she knew for sure, in that moment that it felt amazing and that kissing Ashlyn was something that she wanted to do for the rest of her life – that and being in the girl’s arms because it made her feel completely safe.

“Damn…” is all Ashlyn could say as they pulled away, she was speechless. Shaking her head she grinned. “I mean, damn!” She let out more confidently this time.

Ali just giggled as she wrapped her arms around the blonde and buried her head into her neck.

Ashlyn smiled softly as she wrapped her own arm tightly around Ali and closed her eyes, opening them a few second later to look around the room, her gaze falling onto a familiar figure. “No way…” she whispered out in slight amusement.

“What?” Ali asked curiously as she pulled her head back a little to look at her.

“Ella is dancing with Erin…” she smirked as she tilted her head a little in their direction.

Ali turned and strained her neck to look at the two Ashlyn was motioning towards and she smiled softly before she knotted her eyebrows in curiosity once more. “Does Ella even….?”

“I don’t know,” Ashlyn cut her off knowing exactly what she was going to say. “I don’t think she even knows.”

“Never the less, they are rather cute,” Ali mused out as she turned back to Ashlyn.

“I’ll tell her you said that.”

“No don’t!” Ali quickly let out in panic and Ashlyn just stared at her in amusement. “Ashlyn!”

She let out more sternly. “Promise me you won’t.”

“Fine, I promise I won’t.”

“Good," she mumbled out as she returned to her position from just moments before.

About another three hours, the two groups stumbled out of the bar giggling and laughing along the street, a few drunker than others as they made their way into a few cabs they had booked earlier.

They said goodbye to each other and made their way back to their apartments to end the night.

\----

_-tap, tap, tap-_

That’s all that could be heard throughout the room for a few minutes until a groan flowed out from a very sleepy Ella. A few more taps sounded through her room and she groaned once more as she peaked open one eye, her head was pounding a little and she cursed to herself for getting drunk the night before. Raising her gaze she looked over to the clock and saw that it was only 6:25 in the morning.

“What the fuck…” she whispered out into the room as another round of taps came sounding through her room and she sighed in frustration, looking over towards her window, knowing that’s exactly where the noise was coming from. A few chirps then followed and she shook her head.

“God damn that bird!” She sighed again as she shut her eyes and brought the spare pillow over her head as she tried to shut out the noise, but she could still faintly hear it and she grumbled in annoyance. “Alright, I am up!” Ella let out in a frustrated whisper to no one in particular but more to the annoying bird at her window, it would come one day and then leave for a few days only to return and annoy her once again. Today she wished it would had stayed away.

Swinging her legs over the bed, she sat up and instantly brought her hands to her head, only a little happy that her hangover wasn’t as bad as they have been. Finally after a moment, she had enough energy to pick herself up from the bed and went straight to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and an aspirin. Once she took it, she then went straight to the bathroom to have a shower.

By the time she was showered and dressed the time was around 7:30 and the apartment was still dead, so instead of having breakfast and making a noise, she decided to head to the café.

Entering the building, she smiled softly to herself as she breathed in the instant coffee aroma that had hit her before making her way to a vacant table. A few minutes later one of the baristas came over to take her order.

\---

Ella had finally finished her food and got up to pay for it – thanking the people behind the counter in the process before beginning to make her way out of the building, just as she was leaving with her gaze glued to her phone someone was entering and she only just noticed by quickly glancing up, but she didn’t look towards their face. She quickly took a step to her right, in which the other person stepped in the same direction and then she quickly stepped left and the person did the same. “Damn… sorry,” she mumbled out as she stopped her attempt in leaving for the time being as a chuckle left her mouth and she raised her gaze, her heart began to race a little quicker, like it always did when she saw Erin.

“It’s fine, Ella,” Erin smiled softly as she tilted her head to the side and stared at the girl for a moment. “You’re up early.”

“Uh, yeah… there was a damn annoying bird tapping on my window and rudely woke me up, there was no point in going back to sleep.”

“No hangover then?”

“Only a small headache, but I took an aspirin for it, so all is well,” she smiled and Erin nodded.

“How about you? Why are you up so early?”

“Couldn’t really sleep, so I didn’t bother and I didn’t really drink much last night, so there was no hangover in the morning.”

“Lucky you,” Ella mumbled out softly.

Erin chuckled lightly as she shook her head. “So, what are your plans for the day?”

“Probably just relaxing, nothing major, I mean everyone got drunk last night, so I am sure they aren’t expecting to do anything wild. I don’t really expect them to be awake until the afternoon anyway. You?”

“Same deal here,” she shrugged. “Well, I should probably let you go…” Erin quickly said and before she could take a step around the girl to allow her to leave another person pushed passed her in attempt to walk into the building and Erin stumbled forward a little towards Ella.

The younger girl’s eyes widened slightly at the closeness and she felt a sudden rush run throughout her body that she couldn’t explain. “I…uh…you… yeah, I should probably go…” she rushed out quickly. She wasn’t even sure if the other girl had understood her or not as she side stepped her and began walking out of the building only to stop just outside and turned back around. “Ahh, wait!” She let out with more confidence, which surprised her completely.

Erin couldn’t help the smile that took over her face as the other girl stumbled over her words and the fact she rushed out of the place as quickly as possible. She was about to continue walking into the café when Ella’s voice was heard once more and she turned around to her with a raised eyebrow. “Uh, yeah?” She asked in confusion.

“Friends and I are going to the beach for a bonfire tonight, just wondering if you wanted to join?” She shyly asked, praying so badly that she’d agree.

“Sounds like fun. I’m in,” Erin agreed with a grin that melted Ella’s heart that little bit more.

“Cool, bring your friends, the more the merrier,” she smiled before she turned back around and began to head off again.

Erin quickly walked out of the place. “Uh… Ella?” She quickly called out to the girl.

“Yes?”

“I think I might need some details and exactly where this beach is.”

“Oh!” Ella let out in embarrassment as her face instantly started to burn up. “Right…” She mumbled out before moving back to Erin. “We are planning on meeting from about 4 and onwards at Dockweiler Beach, so come whenever you want,” she smiled.

Erin nodded slowly as she crossed her arms against her chest as she listened. “Alright, sounds good then.”

“I can give you my number if you need any help getting there or need some more information?”

“Yeah, that would be cool,” Erin smiled as she uncrossed her arms and reached into her pocket to pull out her mobile before handing it to Ella.

“There you go,” Ella grinned as she handed the phone back to Erin. “I will see you later then.”

“Yeah, see ya later,’ Erin nodded with a smile as she watched Ella turn back around and head off, she continued to stare for a moment longer, getting lost for a brief second until she shook her head out of her trance, not fully realizing just how big her smile was and then she headed back into the café.

\----

With three cups of coffee in hand, Erin made her way into her apartment and headed straight to the living room to place the coffees on the table. As she entered she found her other two roommates lounging around looking half dead and she couldn’t help the soft chuckle that escaped her at the site.

“Why don’t we look lovely,” she teased as she continued into the area.

“Ugh, shut up, dude!” Carm groaned as she wrapped her arms around her head.

Erin laughed a little louder this time, which earned her a glare from the pair of them and she quickly shut her mouth to try and stop the noise. She finally reached the table and placed the coffees down on it. “Got you girls a coffee if you feel like one. But I didn’t realize just how bad you were going to be in the morning with your hangover. UH, I’ll get you some water and an aspirin,” she let out softer this time.

“Thanks, bud,” Carm smiled and Kaylyn just hummed in agreement.

Shaking her head in slight amusement, Erin made her way into the kitchen to grab a couple bottles of water and the Advil from the cupboard before she retreated back to the living room to give them the things to help their hangover a little. She grabbed her own coffee and then sat down on the recliner chair while just staring at them for a moment as she took a sip of her drink.

“Why are you staring?” Kaylyn asked in confusion as she looked over to her after taking the Advil.

“No real reason, I am just finding this completely hilarious,” Erin laughed softly which caused Kaylyn to reach over and slap her leg.

“I am so glad you find us looking and feeling like death so amusing,” she rolled her eyes.

Erin chuckled again and nodded. “Oh, but I really do.” “Shut up!” Carm groaned.

Erin just grinned, trying to hold back from continuing to laugh any further, she turned away and closed her eyes for a brief second to get her composure back and then she reopened them and turned back to the two girls. “Oh, so we got invited to go to a bonfire tonight.”

Carm’s left eyebrow shot up quickly in confusion as she turned to look at Kaylyn and then back to Erin. “By who?”

“Ella,” Erin let out with a shrug like it was no big deal.

Both Kaylyn and Carm’s eyes glistened with amusement as they both turned to each other and smirked while Erin took another sip of her coffee. “Oh?” Carm let out with a smug look and Erin quickly pursed her lips together as she sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Seriously, don’t,” she groaned.

“That’s a bit cute,’ Kaylyn continued the teasing and Erin let out another breath as she quickly got up from her chair and began walking out of the room.

“Yeah, bye,” she let out in slight annoyance.

“Aw, come on, Buddy! We were just joking!” Carm called out to her but Erin didn’t care, she continued her way out and walked into her room, she shut the door and moved over to her bedside table placing her coffee on it before falling to the bed letting out a massive puff of air.

\----

Ashlyn slowly made her way into the kitchen while still trying to rub the sleep from her eyes, Ella looked over her shoulder after pouring herself some juice as she faintly heard someone entering and chuckled lightly at her best friend. “Hey there, Sleepyhead.”

The blonde just groaned something incoherent as she made her way to the fridge and opened it grabbing a bottle of water.

“Yeah, sure, I didn’t even understand one word of that,” she laughed softly as she shook her head in amusement.

Ashlyn rolled her eyes and let out a sleepy smile while she made her way to the cupboard to grab an aspirin to take. “I said yeah, yeah, hello,” she said clearer this time.

“Ah,” Ella let out as she tilted her head backwards before lowering it back down, she reached over for her cup and quickly took a sip.

“Is Whitney not up yet?”

“No, she is awake, she’s just went to go have a shower, like about 5 minutes before you showed up.”

“Oh okay,” the blonde nodded.

“We’re leaving soon, so when Whit is out, you can go have a shower,” Ella smiled.

“Yeah, okay,” Ash nodded slowly and then turned around to make her way towards the lounge room to fall onto the couch to see what was on the television.

Ella followed closely behind, falling onto it as well. “Oh… I uh… invited Erin to this bonfire,” she softly let out after a beat of silence fell amongst them.

Ashlyn’s head instantly whipped into her direction. “Did you now?” She smirked.

“Yeah and before your mind goes anymore further, I invited her and her friends.”

“Oh, but you still invited her, she was your first choice,” Ashlyn teased. “Her friend’s came as an afterthought, did they not?”

Ella just shook her head and turned her attention back to the TV.

“Thought so,” the blonde mumbled out softly.

“Ass…” Ella grumbled quietly to herself

\----

“Erin… I think we are lost,” Kaylyn laughed from the backseat as she felt like she’s been sitting there for ages.

“No, we’re not!” Erin let out in annoyance.

“Who even decided that you would be the one to drive?” Carm piped in.

“Me, when the rest of you decided you didn’t want to get ready quick enough!”

“You are the worst! Seriously, pull over and let me drive, you can read the directions to me.”

Erin huffed in annoyance, but agreed anyway. She pulled over, causing the car which had the rest of the girls behind them to pull over as well, she quickly ran to their window and told Emily that they were just changing drivers because apparently she had no sense of direction, mocking herself in the process with a tiny laugh, because to be honest, she really didn’t have a clue where she was going. After a few laughs here and there, she jogged back to her car and got into the passenger side.

“Alright, now we will probably be able to get there and hopefully while it’s still daylight,” Carm winked knowing well enough that they would get there on time or just a little after.

Erin just gave her a slight smirk as she titled her head to the side and rolled her eyes. They had managed to get there about quarter past four.

\----

“Oh, look who actually showed up,” Ashlyn whispered in Ella’s direction as she brought her elbow up and nudged the shorter girl.

Ella knitted her eyebrows in confusion before following the direction in which the blonde had tilted her head in and she instantly rolled her eyes as she shook her head, but couldn’t help the faint blush that crept onto her face and the fluttering feeling inside her chest at seeing the other girl.

“Seriously… piss off.”

“You’re blushing!” Ash grinned as she raised her hand and poked the girl’s cheek.

Bringing her hand up, the brunette quickly swatted Ashlyn’s hand away as she gave her a glare.

“Stop!” She vocalized unamused.

Ashlyn was about to say something else when she felt a hand on her left arm flowered by a voice that sent a shiver down her spine.

“Ash, leave her alone,” Ali voiced softly and Ashlyn quickly turned her attention away from her best friend and to the other woman.

Ella giggled quietly to herself as she couldn’t wipe the amused look off her face at how quickly Ashlyn’s attention got taken away. “Thank you, Ali,” she muttered in complete amusement.

Ashlyn immediately turned her attention back to Ella and squinted her eyes while giving her a look of annoyance while Ali just smiled softly at her.

Ella grinned and then shook her head as she began to walk away and into the direction of Erin.

“Hey, you made it,” she smiled softly once she reached the girl.

“Haha, of course but we did get a little lost along the way,” Erin chuckled lightly.

“Thanks to your driving!” Carm called out over her shoulder and Ella could help but laugh while Erin turned around and just stared at her. Carm just shrugged and gave her a wink before turning her attention to the rest of the group.

“Er…yeah, I may have taken a few wrong turns,” she let out sheepishly.

“Well, you’re here now, so couldn’t have been that bad.” “You can thank Carm for that,” She laughed softly.

“Right okay,” Ella grinned while looking over Erin’s shoulder and seeing a familiar figure. “Kieran?!” She instantly yelled out as she rushed past the older girl and ran towards her friend, taking no time in hugging the boy. Erin followed Ella’s movement and a small frown instantly found its way onto her face as a funny feeling swirled inside of her that she wasn’t quite used too as the girl hugged him.

“Hah! Hey Els!” He replied happily as he wrapped his own arms around her.

“When did you get back?”

“Last night.”

“And how was the trip?”

“Yeah, it was pretty awesome, saw a lot of different countries and cities, was a good six months.”

“Well, awesome, I am glad you had a good time, I missed you!”

“Missed you too,” he smiled softly as she pulled her into another hug.

\---

Over the next about hour, Ella continued talking to Kieran, catching up on all the things he had done on his vacation trip with his other friends, while Erin hung around her group glancing at the pair every now and then, her heart would flutter in her chest at the sight of the girl laughing, but then just seconds later it would drop abruptly at the fact that it was the boy that caused her to laugh, but that’s not the only reason why. The other causes for this funny feeling of what most people would call jealousy – only that she was content on telling herself that she was far from jealous – was the way she would look at him with the utmost attention while he spoke or the tiny touches on his forearm every now and then or that damn side hug he had given her. They were only a few of the reasons, there were plenty more but she made sure not to stare for a long period of time as to not draw attention to herself. She could only imagine the teasing she would have received from her friends.

For the first time since acknowledging the boy, Ella finally looked up and spotted Erin – she had completely forgotten about the other girl and felt a little bad for just ditching her the way she did, so quickly she excused herself, saying she’d talk to him and his friends later, she slowly made her way to the Canadian with a soft smile.

“Hey,” she softly let out which sent a chill down Erin’s spine.

“Hi,” she smiled back.

“Enjoying yourself?”

_I am now…_ she thought to herself and had to quickly stop her eyes from widening. “Uh, yeah. The beach is beautiful,” she nodded as she looked around the place and the gorgeous sunset glistening over the water. “Do you want to go for a walk?” She instantly blurted out before she could stop herself.

“I agree,” Ella smiled at the beach comment and then just a little bigger at her question. “Sure,” she replied without missing a beat.

“Cool,” Erin grinned brightly as she turned around and began walking away, she ignored the knowing looks she was getting from her friends.

They continued to walk down along the shoreline in silence, asking a few questions here and there about each other’s personal lives as a way to distract the tension between the two, but also bring to light each other back stories and to get to know each other a little better. Finally they had come to a stop a fair distanced away from the bonfire group, that if anyone did take a glance they probably wouldn’t be able to tell it was them, unless they had followed their every move.

Ella was the first one to sit and without thinking, she pulled the Erin down as well eliciting a small chuckle from the Canadian. “Sorry…” She mumbled embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it,” Erin nodded as she turned her attention back to the sunset, the different shades of pink, orange and purple tinted clouds danced across the sky as it reflected in the water which was utterly breathtaking.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Ella’s voice suddenly snapped her out of her gaze and she quickly turned her gaze to the American and just stared for a moment, getting lost in the girl’s features and how the light caste upon her face made her look just that little bit more mesmerizing.

“Yeah you are…” she whispered out quietly before her eyes widened this time and she quickly turned away and back to the scenery as her face heated up a little in embarrassment. “Ye-yeah it is!” She let out quickly with great enthusiasm that Ella couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t quite understand the whole whispered bit and only clearly caught the second part of what Erin had said.

_McLeod you’re an idiot._

“I enjoy just coming out here and watching the sunset from time to time,” Ella said after an awkward silence fell upon them as she could tell that Erin was feeling embarrassed by something she had said that she didn’t have a clue about.

“Yeah, it’s peaceful,” Erin voiced a lot calmer this time as another silence fell over them. “Sorry, if

I took you away from your… friend.” “Who?” Ella let out confused.

“That guy…” she said awkwardly.

“Oh! No, it’s alright,” Ella assured as she glanced back over towards the water and then back to Erin. “He is one of my best friends, been friends for as long as I can remember – and well, at one point in high school I also had a massive crush on him, but he had a girlfriend so…I had no chance what so ever,” as soon as that came out of her mouth she quickly glanced away and shut her eyes as fast as she could. _Why in the hell would she even want to know that, Ella?!? God your mouth runs some ridiculous shit when you’re nervous! Shut up, seriously._

Erin’s face fell as soon as she heard the words _massive crush_ and couldn’t help but wonder if she still liked the guy, by the short interaction she had seen between the two, she could have sworn that she in fact did. “And what about now?”

“Huh?”

“Do you still have a crush on him?” Erin quickly asked and then cursed to herself. _That is none of your damn business, Erin!_

Ella looked out towards the ocean as her fingers dug into the sand beside her while she stayed silent for a moment as a small smile tugged at the sides of her lips, but she had kept it from forming completely on her face as she just shrugged, she was a little surprised by the question but tried her best not to show it. “Uh, no not really, things change over time…” she whispered before looking over towards Erin, noticing the girl herself was staring out towards the water. She lost her train of thought for a brief second as she stared at the Canadian, noticing just how truly beautiful she was in that lighting and that she could feel her heart flutter inside her chest.

Shaking her head quickly, Ella coughed as she regained her composer as Erin slowly turned her head to look at her. “I mean…. different people come into your life where there’s this instant connection from the very beginning and they begin to change your perspective on things, they begin to change the way you think about a person and you know… as each day goes by they start to steal your attention away from others and then soon… all you can think about is them. I mean it can also be really confusing and quite frankly it can completely freak you out, because it’s all so new and it’s all so different that you don’t really understand what’s happening and it races throughout your mind like it just wants to mock you, day in and day out, but…” she paused for a moment to catch her breath as she continued to look at Erin.

The other woman had no intention of looking away either as she was too entranced in what Ella was saying.

After a beat of silence Ella began to speak again. “but… to be honest you don’t want it to stop… because… because it’s a nice feeling and well, people may not really agree with the person you begin to like but in the end…” she continued as she began to lean in absently not really sure of what she was even saying anymore, the words just continued to flow out of her freely. “You can’t help the way you feel, you can’t help who you fall for and that’s the scary part, because it happens so quickly that it catches you off guard… it happens so sudden and well... you know, maybe overall... it’s for the better,” she smiled softly as she stared straight into Erin’s eyes, seeing them stare back at her with the same intensity. “To be honest, it’s not him that I have a crush on anymore, it’s you…” she mumbled the last part so quietly and quickly that Erin didn’t hear it, all she could hear – well, all both of them could really hear was the sound of their beating hearts as they inched closer and closer. Both of their gazes flickered to the other’s lips before they closed their eyes in preparation of what was about to happen. They were only inches apart from connecting their lips together when suddenly someone called out.

Carm and Kaylyn were heading back to the bonfire after their own little walk as they stared at their phones in amusement. Looking up, Carm quickly noticed Erin and Ella talking and she turned to Kaylyn while chucking. “Hey, you continue, I am just going to go show this to Erin,” she grinned.

“Hah, no worries, see ya back there,” Kaylyn smiled as she turned back to the phone and continued to watch the video that their friends from back home had sent them.

Carm nodded as she turned and she herself looked at her phone as she continued to watch and walk towards the pair sitting on the sand. “Hey Erin! You gotta check this out, Bud!” She quickly called out when she was close enough but she hadn’t raised her gaze yet.

As soon as the girl’s voice sounded, Ella quickly pulled back as her eyes widened at what was about to happen, she quickly shot up into a standing position and backed away from Erin a little.

Carm had finally turned her attention to them by this point and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Uh… did I interrupt something?”

“No!” Ella let out almost too quickly as her face felt like it was on fire, her heart was racing inside her chest and she thought that it was going to explode. She turned to look at Erin who was just staring at her with a blank expression before she turned back to Carm who had her eyebrows risen in confusion. “I- uh, no… I mean, you didn’t. I’m just, um… I’m… bye!” She stammered out as she quickly rushed away from them.

Carm turned and watched as she headed away before looking to Erin and squinting her eyes again. “Are you sure I didn’t interrupt anything?”

Erin quickly shook her head out of the trance. “Yeah, it’s cool you didn’t. What did you want to show me?”

Carm stared for a moment longer and although she didn’t quite believe her best friend, she dropped the subject and turned her attention to what she was originally going to show Erin. This had the woman cracking up in no time.

\---

Ella raced back to the campfire without a second thought of stopping and returning back to Erin, her mind was racing at what had just occurred with the Canadian and she was even more confused than ever before at the feelings she had for her.

“Whoa, Els… you okay?” Ashlyn asked in concern as she noticed her best friend rushing back to them.

“Yes,” was the only thing Ella replied with.

Ashlyn raised an eyebrow. "You sure?”

“Yes, Ashlyn, I am fine!” She let out firmly as she slipped past her best friend and headed straight to get a drink.

The blonde just shrugged and let her go, she didn't want to annoy her any further. She only hoped that the girl would come talk to her when she was ready.

\----

Erin tried her absolute best to talk to Ella again- not so much about what almost happened between the two of them– but more so she just wanted to talk to her about anything really, but the other girl managed to avoid her at all costs while staying as far from her as possible, so although she had worn a smile on her face to avoid any questions being asked for the rest of the night, she was wearing a frown on the inside which only grew as the time went on. She was a little relieved when Carm had suggested that they head home, but that didn’t last long because she wasn’t able to say goodbye to Ella due to her ignoring her. As soon as they got home, she said goodnight to Carm and Kaylyn and rushed straight to her room to get changed into her sleepwear and then she went straight to bed, but she didn’t go to sleep, because she was far too lost in her thoughts which only confused her completely.

_Does she like me or not?_


	5. Chapter 5

Monday arrived a lot quicker than most of the girl’s would have liked – well, that was only because they had pretty much slept the whole Sunday away, so it was practically one of the most uneventful days they have experienced by far.

Ashlyn was the first to wake up, she took her time getting ready and then made her way into the kitchen, noticing that she was the only one up. Letting out a small breath, she made her way to the refrigerator and opened it to see what she could whip up for breakfast. She ended up deciding to make scrambled eggs with spinach through it, bacon and toast, with a side of orange juice or coffee, as well as some chocolate chip pancakes if they wanted them. Once the food was completed, she placed the food on the table and then began to make her way to retrieve her two best friends. Stopping at Whitney’s door, she lightly knocked on it.

“Come in,” was the quick response she got from her friend, so the blonde opened the door and stuck her head in to see that Whitney was already up.

“Hey, I made breakfast,” she began as she tilted her head backwards. “It’s on the table.”

“Ah, sweet,” Whitney smiled as she began to head towards the door. “I was just about to come out and make something.”

“Well, saved you the trouble.” Ashlyn grinned as she stepped back out into the hallway.

“You’re the best,” Whit responded as she headed out of her room after the blonde.

Ashlyn chuckled lightly. “Duh, I already know that,” she teased.

“Smartass.”

“You know it,” she continued not missing a beat as she began to head towards Ella’s room, Whitney just shook her head in response and walked the other way to the dining room table. Once again Ashlyn knocked on the closed door in front of her, but this time she didn't get a response, so opening the door slightly, she poked her head in and saw Ella still asleep. Letting out a smile, she swung the door open a little more and entered the room to make her way over to her best friend’s bed to sit down.

Raising her hand, she reached over and gently placed it on the girl’s shoulder. “Hey, Ella… you gotta wake up,” she let out calmly.

Ella woke up almost instantly but all she could reply with was a groan as she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

Ashlyn chuckled as she shook her head. “Nah, come on, Els. You need to wake up, have

breakfast and then get ready for work,” she tried again.

Another groan escaped Ella as she raised her hand to her eyes and began to rub the sleep from her eyes. “Mkay, ’m awake,” she mumbled out.

The blonde only chucked that little bit more as a grin took over her face. “Good! I made breakfast, so hurry up and get up, Sleepyhead,” she voiced with amusement as she playfully pushed the girl’s arm and got up to leave.

As soon as she left the room, Ella rolled onto her back as a yawn escaped her. She then dragged herself out of bed, standing up she stretched out her tired limbs before sleepily making her way towards the table where her two best friend were.

“Morning, Sleepy,” Whitney smiled and then took a bite out of her toast.

Ella gave her a tired grin as she sat on the seat next to her. “Morning,” she replied as she reached over to grab some food for herself. “This smells so good, Ash,” she mused as she went straight to shoving a piece of bacon into her mouth.

Ashlyn laughed as she took a sip of her orange juice. “Thought so,” she smiled as she placed a forkful of scrambled eggs in her mouth.

Both Whit and Ella shared a look as they rolled their eyes at their best friend, not caring about replying to her as they continued to eat.

After breakfast, they cleaned up and Ella quickly rushed off to get ready for the day ahead of her. Once she was dressed, she made her way back into the living room to tell the others and after they all got their stuff together, they left their apartment and began heading towards the music store.

“Hey, Boss!” Ella let out happily as she walked into work and saw Christie sitting at the front counter.

“Ahh, if it isn’t my favourite employees and you’re all even here earlier than you need to be,” Christie smiled as she looked up at the trio walking into the building, technically they were the only employees she had – except for Thursday where she had a few others as it was the girl’s day off – they were the only people she pretty much trusted to look after the shop.

“Duh, of course! We love work oh so much,” Ella grinned as the other two laughed in amusement.

Christie let out a small breath as she gathered the papers she was going over before they had walked in and got up from the chair. She then chuckled as she rolled her eyes at what the girl had said. “Right, yeah. I am sure you do,” she challenged as she walked around the counter and towards them. “Well, there is stock in the back as per usual that you may go through. We are expecting a delivery sometime today for the store that any of you are more than welcome to sign for and then there is one that I am expecting which I need to sign for, so If I am not out here, please come and get me,” she smiled.

‘Sure, thing,” Ashlyn was quick to let out before the other two could even begin to open their mouth, so they just smiled and nodded as a response.

“Perfect, I will be in my office going over last week’s figures and ordering a few more things I know we have to get if you need me,” Christie began as she waved the papers in her hand and then turned to make her way towards her office.

They all nodded and hummed as a sign they had understood what their boss had said. As soon as the older woman disappeared into her office. Whit and Ella, placed their belongings behind the counter and made their way into the back room to suss out what was in there. Ashlyn on the other hand stayed out the front to get ready for when they opened.

The day went as it normally would go. Quiet morning where only a few people here and there would come into the shop, most likely those who have a late start to work, college students or just those who were passing by on an early start to the day. Then there would be the lunch time rush, which would see quite a lot of people coming and going which would quiet down for a few more hours, only to start back up in the afternoon with the school kids dropping in to check out the place for about an hour where it would finally settle down to only a bunch of people.

Finally the afternoon rush was coming to an end in which Ella let out a breath of relief as she fell onto the stool she had placed next to the counter and picked up the guitar which she had left leaning against it when the school kids came flooding in. She turned to Whitney and Ashlyn behind the desk and gave them both a weary smile. “I will never get used to the rush hours,” she chuckled lightly.

“You and me both!” Ash quickly responded as she sat back in the chair and stretched her arms out as far as they would go as she let out a long yawn.

The other two couldn’t help but laugh at that but Whitney also agreed with the both of them. Ella began strumming her guitar as the chime of the bell went off, she raised her gaze and saw Carm heading towards them and although it wasn’t the face she wanted to see, her heart still began to speed up because there was still the chance that the other woman would be with her.

“Hey, Girls,” Carm smiled as she stopped in front of the counter.

“Hey,” Whitney replied as she turned back to the computer screen.

“Hello,” Ella responded as well as she sneaked a peek over Carm’s shoulder only to see that Karina was with Carm this time and she let out a small frown, which she quickly caught onto before smiling again so no one would ask questions.

KK greeted them as well until her gaze fell onto the drum set and she got a little excited. “Can I?”

She motioned towards it and Ashlyn’s gaze followed her before laughing lightly.”

“Yeah, come on, I’ll keep an eye on ya,” she smiled as she got up off her seat and walked around the desk and towards the drums where the other woman had begun to head into.

Ten or so minutes went by and the three at the front turned their attention to where Ashlyn and KK were situated, the girl was playing outrageously on the drums while a few kids surrounded her and cheered her on, Ashlyn was seen laughing her head off at the situation and the other girls couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“Your friend's a riot,’ Ella chuckled out towards the curly haired girl.

Carm laughed as she nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, she’s like a big hyperactive kid most of the time. She keeps us entertained that’s for sure.”

“Ella is like that for us as well, except the embarrassing kind,” Whitney began as she shot a look to Ella and winked. “Like for example this one time we were walking down the street doing some shopping and she noticed a pair of boots that she wanted and kind of stared for a little bit longer that by the time she decided to turn to watch where she was going she walked straight into a pole,” Whitney stated with a laugh in which Carm returned.

“Seriously!” Ella whispered out embarrassed as her face began to turn red.

“Or there was this time we were at an ice cream shop, Ella arrived a little later than all of us and when she came back to the table with her ice cream, she misjudged the seat and fell flat on her ass while Ice cream went everywhere.”

Raising her hand, Ella covered her eyes as her face heated up even more. “Kill me now,” she let out as she chuckled even more in embarrassment.

“Oh and my favourite…” she began as she looked to Ella and grinned. The girl removed her hand and shook her head as she glared at Whitney.

“I’m going to kill you!” She quickly let out and Whit laughed even more which caused Carm to laugh as well.

“My favourite was when we were out shopping for groceries and she went to get a can of… actually I can’t quite remember what it was she wanted but anyway when she grabbed it, the rest of the cans followed because they weren’t stacked properly and tumbled over onto the floor causing everyone's attention to turn towards her, she fumbled trying to pick them up and put them back where they belonged but they just continued to fall. I think Ashlyn and myself were dying of laughter for days after the incident.”

“Sleep with one eye open!” Ella glared before she just busted out laughing, half in embarrassment and half because it actually was pretty funny as she once again brought her hand up to her face to cover her eyes.

At this point Erin was making her way into the store when she noticed Ella in mid laugh, she could also tell the girl was probably embarrassed by something because of the red of her cheeks that flushed so bright. Her heart began racing inside of her chest at the site and the sound as she abruptly stopped her way in causing Kaylyn to run into her and it startled the blonde.

“What is it?” She let out confused as she took a step back quickly and looked towards Erin, she then followed her friends gaze and saw Carm talking to Whitney and of course Ella. A smirk instantly found it’s way onto Kaylyn’s face. “Right, now I know,” she whispered out barely audible but still loud enough for her best friend to hear.

Erin quickly shook her head as she turned to look over her shoulder at the blonde, she rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah,” she sighed as she turned back around and made her way over to Carm.

“Hey Erin!’ Whitney was quick to say in which Ella lowered her hand straight away and turned her gaze straight to the girl, her eyes widening only a little as she felt that funny feeling spread throughout her body once more.

“Hey,” she smiled to Whitney and then turned to Ella. “How’s the both of you?” She asked curiously but it was more obvious that she was asking Ella as she didn’t take her eyes off her when she asked.

“Uh… good,” Ella mumbled out as she stood from her chair. “I should go restock the shelves,” she rushed out quickly as she began to walk towards the back room.

Whitney eyed the back of her head weirdly with a raised eyebrow and then she shrugged as she turned back to the other girls.

Erin however frowned a little as the girl walked away because she was yet again trying to avoid her and it was most likely to do with what happened Saturday night. One thing she couldn’t stand was Ella ignoring her because that hurt the most.

The Canadian’s stayed a little longer chatting about the bonfire and a bunch of other questions about their lives. Erin stole a few glances towards the back of the store in hopes that Ella would resurface, but she never did and that just confused her even more, she was a little unsure of what she had done to make the younger girl ignore her, although she did have somewhat of an idea of what the issue might be about. She’d have to ask her the next time she saw her however because

Carm suggested that it was time to leave, they were going out to dinner with the rest of the gang. They said goodbye to Whitney and Ashlyn as they headed out of the store, saying they should definitely hang out again soon.

Ella stayed in the back room for a little longer after she heard the girl’s leave, she didn’t want to make it obvious that she was trying to avoid Erin or something like that. Once she did leave the store room with a stack of CD's, she made her way to the shelves and began restocking them with what was in her hands.

Whitney saw her leaving and quickly made her way over to stop beside her. She gave her a questioning look for a moment before actually speaking. “What was that?”

Ella turned and faced her with a confused look as she quirked a brow at her. “What was what?” She asked slowly causing Whit to sigh.

“You disappeared into the store room as soon as Erin arrived and then you come out after she leaves.”

“Yeah… I was sorting through the CD's… I didn’t know they had left,” she half lied.

“Right,” Whitney said slowly as she nodded her head unconvincingly and squinted her eyes. “So you weren’t trying to avoid Erin?”

Ella’s eyes widened only a fraction and luckily it went unnoticed by her friend. She coughed to clear her throat. “I have no idea what you are talking about. So, no… I wasn’t.”

“Whatever you say,” Whit responded with a shrug and then turned to walk back to the front to begin to pack away her stuff so they could close up. Christie usually left around the afternoon rush to go pick up her children from school.

The final customer left the shop and the trio quickly packed up. They made their way out and closed up.

\----

The next two days went exactly the same way for Ella. First she woke up, then got dressed before heading out to get some breakfast. She then made her way to work with the other two, spent the day helping customers, closing the store up and then heading to the café for a coffee and to listen to the annoying open mic. One thing she did notice though was that nearly every single new comer to the stage was as bad as the next, some were a little better than others but none were as good as Erin.  _Erin…_ The girl who had stolen her thoughts even more as each day went by.

Now there she was lying in bed Wednesday night or you could say early Thursday morning wide awake staring at the darkened ceiling above her, her mind was in overdrive with thoughts – thoughts of the Canadian and it scared the hell out of her, she hadn’t officially spoken properly to her since the bonfire. Because she had ignored her at her work and had ignored the few phone calls and texts that she had received from her.

As each day and night went by, images of the older woman filled her mind, her thoughts and now even her dreams which were becoming more frequent and feeling more realistic than ever before. “Fuck…” she sighed into the quiet room as pieces slowly fell into place. Pieces she was incredibly nervous to figure out and put together, but now that it was slowly happening, she knew she couldn’t escaped them. She couldn't fight them off no matter how hard she tried because the harder she tried the more they would fall into place – the more she found herself thinking about the gorgeous woman with the most angelic voice she has ever heard.

Bringing her hands up, she rubbed her face as a sigh echoed into the room, swinging her legs over the edge of her bed, she slowly got up and made her way as quietly as she could towards the kitchen to get a glass of water, once she had the water, she practically downed it all at once and then lowered the glass back into the sink with slightly shaky hand. Turning back around, she headed out of the Kitchen and back towards her room. Only she stopped and turned to look down the hallway, she closed her eyes and let out a breath as she opened them and made her way a few doors down. Knocking lightly, she heard a faint groan and opened the door.

“A- Ash are you awake?” Ella asked a little shakily.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?” The blonde muttered out with sleep heavily evident in her voice.

Ella sighed as she slowly moved further into the room as best she could with the amount she could see, she reached out for the bed and once she found it she sat down on the edge of it, but she stayed silent.

“Ella?” Ashlyn spoke out a little in concern as her best friend didn’t reply.

The room fell silent again.

“I think…” Ella’s voice suddenly sounded to break the silence. “I think I like Erin…” she continued slowly. “Mo- more than a friend….” She mumbled out.

Ashlyn quickly sat up in her bed and reached over to turn her side lamp on, cursing slightly at the bright light and then she turned to Ella. “Seriously?” She said in complete shock.

“What no teasing?” Ella tried to joke but she just frowned and nodded her head slowly as she fiddled with her fingers in her lap, not daring to look at Ashlyn.

“Of course not, Ella! I was only teasing you before because I thought there was no chance in hell you would like her. It was just a playful tease, like how you tease me with Ali, I know that it’s a little different because I actually have a damn big ass crush on her that even a complete stranger would know. It’s just the way you were acting around Erin it seemed like you liked her, but I knew you didn’t and there was no harm in just teasing you a little about it, plus you didn’t really seem to mind, it was... I…just I didn’t know,” Ash began as she felt guilty for teasing the poor girl, she also didn't know if she had made any sense.

Ella just continued listening to her speak. A small smile began forming on her lips. “Ash… it’s okay. It seemed like I didn’t mind the teasing because … I didn’t mind it and that scares the hell out of me.”

“Why?” Ashlyn asked curiously.

“Because… because I’ve never felt this way before … about anyone really. But now I am and the fact it’s about a girl… I just.. I am worried about losing family and friends…” she mumbled out. “I am worried about what people will think. It’s new and it's strange and it’s completely fucking scary... but… I like this feeling and that just sends me into complete confusion because I don’t understand this at all!”

“Ella… it doesn’t matter what people think about you because it’s…”

“I know!” Ella quickly cut her off. “I shouldn’t really care what people think because it’s my life not theirs.” She sighed. “I just… I don’t want to lose anyone…”

Ashlyn mimicked the sigh as she ran a hand through her hair, trying to think of what to tell Ella, but she was half asleep and wasn’t exactly thinking with a complete brain, so she knew that whatever she said would have been a hell of a lot better when she was properly awake, but she needed to let the girl know that it was alright to feel the way she does. “Els… I’m going to be honest with you,” she began as Ella turned her complete attention to the blonde.

“It’s going to probably be one of the hardest things you experience because people who don’t have one slightest damn idea who the hell you are will judge you and they will call you names and they will tell you that it’s wrong, that it’s disgusting and whatever else they can think of because I suppose it makes them feel better or whatever, they will feel the need to become apart of your life for that split second to share their opinion, when in reality they probably might not even see you again. You will lose people – some friends that you thought were really close and would stand by you no matter what and yeah even family,” She paused for a moment as she saw the brunette move her gaze back to her hands in her lap.

“But Ella…” she drew out waiting for the girl to look at her and once she did, she saw the slight tears welling up in her eyes and it broke Ashlyn’s heart knowing her best friend was upset about all of this. “The only thing that really matters is that you are happy and I mean one hundred percent happy, if people can’t be happy for you then screw them, because you will feel a lot better being true to yourself rather than hiding away and faking something you don’t want. You’ll only feel like shit and being true to yourself and loving who you want to love is the best feeling in the world. In the end, the people you should care about are the ones that stand by you no matter what, because it shows they care about you. And you know that Whit and I will be by your side no matter what you do and no matter who you fall for, basically as a whole damn summary of what I just said; you should be damn proud of who you are and it’s more than okay to have feeling for her,” she finished with a smile in which Ella returned as she slowly nodded.

“Is this why you were avoiding her?” Ashlyn asked after a beat of silence because she could tell Ella didn’t have a clue what to say.

Letting out a sigh, she slowly nodded her head. “Yeah, partially. I mean… we… we almost… uh… kissed on Saturday night,” she mumbled and Ashlyn’s eyes instantly widened in surprise.

“What?” She questioned.

Ella blushed as she nibbled on her lower lip. “When we went for a walk, we were sitting watching the sunset talking about stuff and then we almost kissed. Carm came by just before it happened and I realized what we were about to do and quickly rushed away because it freaked me out completely, but I kinda…uh…” she stopped not sure of what to say next.

“So you wanna kiss her?” Ash said in a teasing tone, hoping to ease the tension that had built up in the room.

Ella blushed even more and Ashlyn nodded her head slowly as a smirk formed on her face.

“Stop,” she mumbled out embarrassed.

“You so do,” she laughed.

“Ugh… maybe, but not anytime soon. I need to figure out what’s going on with me first,” Ella said as she rolled her eyes.

Ashlyn smiled softly. “Okay, but don’t shut her out anymore, Els. Believe it or not, you ignoring her does hurt her, I can see it.”

“I know…” she let it roll out with a sigh as she shook her head. “I need to talk to her. But for now

I am going back to bed,” she smiled as she turned to the blonde. “Thank you, Ash.”

Ashlyn smiled with a small nod as she leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her best friend’s forehead. “It’s no problem, babe. If you need to talk, I am always here for you,” she assured the

girl.

Ella nodded and got up from the bed. “I’m sorry for waking you,” she whispered with a guilty tone.

“It’s fine, really. Now go get some sleep.”

“Goodnight, Ash.”

“Goodnight, El.”

\---

After the talk with Ashlyn, Ella was able to find sleep for a few hours before she woke up again. Looking at her clock, she groaned but got up anyway, she knew there was no use going back to sleep. She got changed and made her way out, the house was once again dead, so she made her way to the café for a coffee, which as fate would have it, Erin was also there. After ordering her coffee, she slowly made her way to the Canadian.

“Hey,” she whispered out softly.

Erin quickly raised her gaze and an instant small smile fell upon her face. “Hey…”

“Can I sit?”

“Be my guest.”

Ella smiled as she sat done, an awkward silence fell around them before Ella finally broke it.

“Look, I’m sorry for…uh… ignoring you.”

Erin quirked an eyebrow at her. “Okay, but why exactly were you ignoring me?” “Because we almost kissed on Saturday and it freaked me out.”

“Oh…”

“Don’t get me wrong, it would have been fine… I think. I just… I’ve never been or thought about being with a girl until you showed up and now it’s sending me for a massive loop.”

Erin chuckled lightly as she tiled her head back. “Ah,” she let out at the same time. “It’s fine, Ella.

I get it and I pretty much had an idea that that was the reason why you were avoiding me.” “I’m sorry,” Ella said once again with guilt.

“Honestly, it’s fine.”

“Okay…” she began. “But can we please just forget about the last couple or so days and go back to getting to know one another and on the road to being friends?” She asked hopeful.

Erin laughed this time. “Of course we can,” she nodded.

Ella blushed lightly. “Okay, cool,” she mumbled as she nervously rubbed the back of her neck.

Erin grinned at the blush and was glad they were back to talking again. They stayed in the café catching up with how the other was until Erin’s phone buzzed with a message from Carm saying that her and Kaylyn were hungry and asked to bring them something to eat. Of course Erin reluctantly agreed and then said goodbye to Ella to go grab the girl's some food. Ella was left in the café with a small smile playing across her face and her thoughts still running through her head, but they were getting resolved piece by piece.


	6. Chapter 6

Friday afternoon was slowly coming to an end – but more importantly it was going even slower for a blonde music store worker who just wished it would go faster. Ashlyn was moving about the place with her gaze always going towards the clock on the wall or the watch that was on her left wrist, praying that it would be the end of her shift already. Ella and Whitney had both noticed her gaze often drifting to the clock from time to time, but they didn’t say anything for the time being, they only said something when the flicker of her gaze started to become more frequent as the afternoon trickled on by.

“You look like you’re about to just rush out of this place as soon as it hits six,” Whitney said with amusement.

Ashlyn quickly turned her gaze from her watch to her best friend and sheepishly smiled. “It just seems like the time is going for forever, I just want work to be over already.” “Why? You finally sick of us?” Ella teased.

Bringing her hand up, the blonde began to nervously rub the back of her neck. “Uh…” she breathed out – apart of her had completely forgotten about telling her roommates slash best friends about her date with Ali, but a major part just kept putting it off because she pretty much had an idea of how they’d react. “No, I have a date…”she said slowly as she eyed them carefully.

Their eyebrows quickly shot up in surprise as they turned their gaze to one another in a knowing look. A smirk danced across both their faces which only made Ashlyn groan at the sight. Ella turned back with a now curious expression. “Oh? And who is the lucky girl this time?”

Ash continued to nervously rub the back of her neck as she ducked her gaze to the floor and shuffled on the spot. “It’s Ali…” she mumbled out quietly.

Ella was sure she heard her best friend say Ali, but she needed her to be clearer. “Who?”

The blonde sighed as she raised her gaze and pursed her lips together while tilting her head to the side a little. She crossed her arms across her chest. “It’s Ali.” She said a little more clearly. “Yes, I finally asked Alex out, so no need to say it.”

Whitney grinned as she raised her eyebrows quickly and then turned to Ella to hold up her hand, in which Ella immediately high-fived the girl. “Only took you about ten years.” Whit chuckled. “More like fifty,” Ella joined in with the teasing.

Ashlyn rolled her eyes as she let out a tiny grunt in frustration. “This is the reason I never told you!”

Ella laughed and quickly made her way over to the blonde, instantly jumping onto her in a hug. “All jokes aside, we are really happy for you, Ashlyn. You and Ali are so adorable,” she reassured her best friend.

Ash quickly wrapped her arms around the shorter girl to keep them steady. “Yeah, yeah…” she whispered out as an involuntary blush spread across her face.

“Blushing are we?” Ella teased as she hopped off Ashlyn and poked her rosy cheeks.

Ashlyn quickly swatted the girl’s hand away and gave her a pointed look. “Stop it,” she rolled her eyes and turned around to head down an aisle to fix up anything that needed to be, just to avoid and ignore the two up front, she could still hear them giggling away.

\---

Work was finally over and Ashlyn made sure not to rush out of the place as soon as it hit six – she was getting looks from her two best friends who thought that’s exactly what she was going to do, however, she stayed back to help them close up and couldn’t help the soft laugh that escaped her at the looks she had gotten from them because of it.

The three closed up and quietly made their way to their apartment, Ella would often _‘bump’_ into Ashlyn and smirk as the blonde would rub her hands together as a sign of nerves, she would eventually get a glare back in return which only caused her best friend to laugh and tell her to relax.

“’m going to go get ready!” Ashlyn quickly called out as she entered the apartment and darted straight to her bedroom before either of her best friends could say a single thing. Pulling out her phone she quickly sent Ali a text message.

Princess <3

_[18:24pm]: Hey, just got home and about to get ready, I’ll come pick you up about 8?_

_[18:26pm]: Of course! No worries. Can’t wait! Xx_

_[18:26pm]: Me either_

_[18:27pm]: Are you going to tell me where we are going yet?_

_[18:28pm]: Nope, it’s a surprise. ;)_

_[18:29pm]: But what am I supposed to wear?_

_[18:30pm]: You could wear anything and still look beautiful, no but seriously, just wear something casual, nothing too fancy, okay?_

_[18:31pm]: Alright, fine! I will see you soon. ;) xx_

_[18:31pm] Yep. ;) x_

Ashlyn threw her phone onto her bed with a massive smile on her face, turning around she headed towards her closet and opened it just staring into it for a good five minutes, she then began to rummage through it trying to pick out an outfit for her date.

About forty minutes later, she finally walked out of her room and into the lounge room freshly showered and dressed in a dark blue button down short sleeve shirt, rolled up once by the sleeve, black skinny jeans with a red; bowtie, belt, and converse shoes.

Ella was the first to notice her as she turned her head at the presence walking into the room, she quickly smirked and then whistled in appreciation. “Looking good, Ash,” she winked and turned to Whitney who also joined in.

“Yes, looking mighty fine, Ali will surely faint at the sight.”

Ashlyn rolled her eyes slowly as she puffed out some air. “Right, thanks but really shut up,” she shook her head as a faint blush ran across her cheeks.

The other two just turned towards each other and giggled to themselves as they watched their best friend move about the place, grabbing what she needed.

“What’s on the agenda for your date, Ash?” Whitney asked curiously once the giggles had slowed down.

“That’s none of your business,” Ashlyn smirked as she turned her attention back to her friends.

“Nah, come on tell us!” Ella whined.

Ashlyn laughed and shook her head. “Fine, a candlelit picnic at the park.” “That’s so cuteee!” Ella squealed.

“Alright, calm down, I am going now, don’t wait up.”

“Oh, please! That’s all we will be doing, we are going to need details!” Whitney laughed.

All Ashlyn could do was groan as she quickly darted into her room to grab a jacket and her phone. She then made her way back out and towards the door. “Who said I was going to even give you details!” She called out. “Byeeeee!” She continued as she opened the door and began to head out.

“Rude!” The duo called out and all they got in return was laughing from the blonde as she made her way out of the door and closed it.

Ashlyn made her way to her truck and jumped in, started it and began to head towards Ali’s place. The closer she got the more nervous she became and by the time she stopped out the front and turned the car off, she was a wreck, her hands gripped the steering wheel as tightly as she possibly could that her knuckles slowly started to turn white.

Letting out a shallow breath she gave herself a pep talk. “You got this, Ashlyn. It’s just Ali, you’ve known her for years. But also you’ve had a crush on her for just as long, maybe this wasn’t a good idea, what if it’s horrible? What if it ruins the friendship? Ugh! No stop thinking like that she said yes to you, she kissed you back last week, she likes you as well. You got this, now come on!” She finished as she slowly released the grip and got out of the car, she gingerly made her way towards the building, making her way inside, she headed towards Ali’s apartment.

Stopping just inches from the door, she closed her eyes as she drew in a breath and slowly letting it out as she reopened them, raising her hand she let her knuckles rake across the door in a knock.

Her breath stopped in her chest as she heard movement on the other side.

\----

Ali was nervously waiting, she had gotten ready with a smile on her face after the texts from

Ashlyn – still unsure as to where they were going, but the blonde was determined not to tell her. As she sat on her couch with the TV just as background noise, she still had half an hour to wait and for her that went as painfully slow as it possibly could have gone.

Finally it got closer and soon enough she heard a knock at her door which made her heart leap out of her chest. Getting up, she grabbed what she needed and made her way to the door to open it.

Once she did, her breath hitched in her throat at the sight of Ashlyn and what she was wearing.

“Hey, Ash,” she smiled sweetly once she got her composure back.

As soon as the door swung open, Ashlyn’s mouth fell open slightly as she stared at Ali, momentarily stunned for the time being. Ali was wearing navy skinny jeans with a plain white shirt, covered with a white washed denim jacket and black boots to finish the look off, it wasn’t too flashy, but Ashlyn could have sworn she was looking at an angel. Ali’s hair was down and curled slightly falling over her shoulders, with a little make up on, but nothing too crazy and it rendered Ashlyn speechless.

Ali giggled at the expression and tried once again to get the blonde’s attention. “Ash?” But Ashlyn was still in her trance and couldn’t respond.

Ali laughed softly this time and shook her head. “Ashlyn!” She quickly said as she raised her hand and snapped her fingers in front of the girl’s face.

This had gotten Ashlyn’s attention and she quickly shook her head out and came back into reality. “Wh- what? Hi… wow…” she stammered out as she shamelessly looked Ali up and down and grinned brightly once she met the brunette’s eyes.

Ali ducked her gaze as a blush crept its way onto her face. “You’re not so bad yourself, Stud,” she winked as she raised her gaze again.

Ashlyn smirked and held out her hand, finally getting her composure back. “Shall we, Princess?”

Ali nodded as she stepped out of her apartment, closed the door and took hold of Ashlyn’s hand to allow her to lead her to the car.

Once settled and the truck rumbled to life, Ash pulled away from the curb and began driving to their destination. Ali stared out the window for a good ten minutes in silence and finally her curiosity once again got the better of her, so she turned to the girl in the driver’s seat.

“Ash?” She whispered softly.

“Yeah?”

“Where are we going?”

Ashlyn laughed softly as she darted her gaze to Ali while grinning and then turned back to the road. “Not telling, it’s a surprise. Trust me you will love it.”

“Fine,” Ali huffed as she turned back to looking out the window as Ashlyn chuckled.

Another fifteen minutes had passed and Ashlyn pulled into a car spot near the park, making sure to park out of sight of the picnic area.

“The park?" Ali asked curiously.

“Close your eyes,” Ashlyn said ignoring Ali’s curious question as she pulled out her phone and quickly tapped out a message to Pinoe.

_[20:32pm]: We are here finally, thanks so much for the help! You’re the best, Pin!_

“What why?” Ali asked curiously as she eyed the blonde tapping away at her phone.

“Close them! It’s a surprise!”

_[20:33pm]: No worries, Lovebird! The pair of you are going to flip when you see what I’ve done with this area._

“I’ve seen the park before, Ashlyn.” The blonde sighed.

_[20:33pm]: I owe you._

“Please, Alex? Just close them,” Ashlyn begged a little as she turned to the brunette.

_[20:34pm]: Duh! Have fun, babes. ;P I’ll get the goss from Ali tomorrow. Haha_ Ali huffed again. “Alright, fine!” She finally agreed as she closed her eyes.

Ashlyn smiled in victory and sent one last text to Pinoe.

_[20:34pm]: Yeah, yeah!_

After getting out, she made her way around to Ali’s side and opened the door, she gently took hold of Ali’s arm and led her out, swinging the door shut behind her as she then led her towards the picnic area.

“Keep them closed, no trying to peek,” Ashlyn said again just to make it clear. “Actually,” she whispered as she moved around and covered her eyes with her hands.

“I wasn’t going to,” she hummed as she felt butterflies fill her stomach at the closeness. “But if you leave me here and ditch me, I swear, I will never forgive you.”

Ashlyn laughed as she shook her head. “I promise…” she trailed off as her eyes widened at the scene in front of her. _Damn it, Megan. This is beautiful._ “I won’t, Princess. Just a little further,” she quickly let out to cover up her surprise.

They finally came to a stop and Ashlyn slowly removed her hands away. “Don’t open them yet,” she whispered as she moved to stand beside her, so she could see the girl’s complete reaction.

“Okay, you can open them.”

Ali slowly opened her eyes and pretty much had to blink a few times to get her vision correctly.

For a second time that night her breath caught in her throat as her mouth dropped in astonishment.

“Oh my god…” she whispered out. Turning to Ashlyn, she shook her head in disbelief. “Ash.. wha… how?” she mumbled out and then turned back to the scene in front of her which consisted of all kinds of flower petals which filled the gross in a red carpet sort of way towards the picnic blanket, which has some more petals scattered around it. A few pillows and blankets to keep them comfortable and a whole load of candles in glass scattered around the area. But what really got her was the sign; _‘Nothing but the best for my Princess,’_ Ali started to tear up a little at how gorgeous it all looked, she focused mainly on the ‘my’ aspect of the sign.

“I kinda had this planned way before I even asked you out and during my break I rushed to your apartment and got everything sorted with Megan, she then helped me put it together after her shift at the café, because I still had work, so basically you can thank her for all of this,” Ashlyn shyly told her as she nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “I mean I could have thought of something a little better I guess,” she mumbled out.

“No wonder she didn’t come straight home, and no, you deserve a thank you as well, because you were the one who thought of this,” Ali chuckled and then turned to Ashlyn without another word, she moved towards her and wrapped her arms around the blonde’s neck, instantly drawing their lips together in a gentle yet passionate kiss. “No, this really is amazing, Ash. Way better than I ever imagined.”

“Nothing but the best for my Princess,” she whispered out against her lips repeating what the cheesy sign had said as she wrapped her arms more securely around the brunette.

Ali grinned into the kiss and then pulled back only a little to look at Ashlyn. “Is this your way of asking me to be your girlfriend?” She giggled.

Ashlyn laughed softly and then turned a little serious for a moment. “Will you be my girlfriend,

Alexandra Blaire Krieger?”

“Absolutely,” Ali responded without hesitation as she pressed her lips against Ashlyn’s again. “I will absolutely be your girlfriend, Ashlyn Michelle Harris,” she mumbled against the girl’s lips.

“Yeah?” Ashlyn asked through a grin.

“Yeah,” Ali whispered as she quickly pecked her now girlfriend’s lips and pulled away. “As nice as it is kissing you, I am a little hungry.”

“Cool… I mean awesome,” Ashlyn laughed softly. “Then let’s eat,” she voiced as she pulled away even more and grabbed Ali’s hand leading her to the blanket to sit down.

Once seated Ashlyn pulled out the food which she had planned earlier on in the day; potato salad, chicken caeser salad, variety of different made up skewers, tiny sandwiches, fruit salad for dessert, and of course some chocolate.

“Wow, Ash… this all looks so amazing,” Ali mumbled as she marvelled over the food.

“Thought you’d like it,’ Ashlyn smirked as she turned to the food and then towards Ali. “Dig in,” she smiled and handed the brunette a plate.

The next couple of hours they sat around eating and chatting about their day, work and just whatever other topic that came to mind, one including Ella liking Erin in which Ashlyn really shouldn’t have started but she trusted Ali not to say anything.

After they finished chatting and it got a little bit chillier as the night continued to roll on by, Ashlyn decided it’d be best to clean up and head off – but not before groaning at the mess they had to pick up.

“God, why did I decide the flower petals,” she grumbled as she slowly began to pick them up in handfuls and putting them into a bag.

“Because it was a cute idea,” Ali grinned as she began packing away the leftovers into the picnic basket.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Ashlyn smiled.

Once they finished cleaning up, they made their way back to Ashlyn’s car, the blonde made sure to open Ali’s door for her and then made her way around to her side to get in. She started the car and began driving off to Ali’s apartment.

Parking the truck, Ashlyn quickly jumped out and made her way around to let Ali out.

“Let me walk you to your door,” Ashlyn grinned

Ali blushed lightly and nodded. “Sure,” she mumbled.

When they reached Ali’s apartment, the brunette quickly turned her attention the Ashlyn.

“Thanks for the perfect date, Ash. I loved it,” she grinned.

“Anything for you,” Ashlyn returned the grin and then moved forward to wrap her arms around Ali to draw her closer, she then leaned in to press her lips firmly against Ali’s.

Ali in return wrapped her arms around the blonde’s neck to draw her closer and in response Ashlyn’s arms tightened around her waist.

After a moment, they pulled away slightly panting.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow?” Ali asked pecking the girl’s lips.

“Mhm,” Ash hummed and kissed her quickly in return.

“Perfect,” Ali smiled and kissed her one last time before pulling away. “Goodnight, Baby.” Ashlyn instantly grinned at the pet name. “Goodnight, Princess.”

Ali smiled while she slowly backed up to her door to open it and then slipped inside while blowing a kiss to Ashlyn. Closing the door she leaned back against it with a massive grin and closed her eyes.

At the same time Ashlyn blew a kiss back and moved forward to the closed door, leaning her head against it.

“Finally,” they both whispered out quietly to themselves at the fact they were finally together. Ali pushed away from the door and slowly made her way towards her room as Ashlyn pulled away and began walking out of the apartment building, both of them had a massive smile on their face.

 ---

_One Month Later_

Over the last month, Ashlyn had informed Whitney and Ella that her and Ali had made it official the same night that they did – only because the duo were waiting up for her and wanted the details the second she walked through the door, she knew for sure that she wasn’t going to be allowed to go to bed until she had spilled it, they of course were completely happy for their best friend and also teased her a little each day like they always did, this time they could tease her for finally having the girl of her dreams as her partner. Ali had informed Pinoe and Lori the exact same way, so no one was out of the loop.

The Americans and Canadians hung out pretty much every day, growing closer to the point where it felt like they had known each other for years. Ella in fact grew closer to Carm and spent more time hanging out with her than her own roommates slash best friends, they joked around and learnt more about one another, which in turn slowly brought her thoughts back down to earth and away from Erin – however that didn’t mean she stopped thinking about the older woman altogether, it just helped her manage her thoughts so she wasn’t as freaked out as she had been,

Carm had also helped Ella with her new discovery of liking her best friend, she learnt more about Erin from Carm than she did from Erin and it made her fall for the singing Canadian just that little bit more. She was incredibly thankful to have met the curly haired girl. This though didn’t have a positive effect on Erin as her own thoughts got the better of her and slowly started to think that maybe something was going on between her best friend and the girl she fancied, but she kept that to pain to herself as she didn’t want to ruin her best friends chances of finding love, if that’s how it was going to go.

\---

Ashlyn, Ella, and Whitney were sitting in their lounge room on an early Friday evening watching a movie when Ashlyn started to shift uncomfortable in her sitting position, she let out a sigh and turned towards the other two, seeing their gazes glued to the screen.

“Guys?” She asked but they didn’t respond. “Guys, I’m bored, let’s go do something,” Ashlyn whined.

The whiny voice had caught their attention as they both turned the attention to the blonde.

“And what did you have in mind?” Whitney asked curiously.

“Bowling and the arcade?” Ashlyn grinned.

“HELL YES!” Ella quickly responded as she jumped out of her seat and high-fived the blonde.

Whitney laughed and shook her head. “You two are such children sometimes.” “But you love us,” Ella responded and poked out her tongue.

“Yeah and you’re both lucky.”

Ashlyn laughed softly and nodded. “So, I am going to check with Alex and the crew to see if they want to come as well,” Ash announced and then turned to Ella. “Do you want to check with the

Canadian's to see if they want to come?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” she agreed as she moved to grab her phone off the coffee table.

Ashlyn texted Ali and got a response about six minutes later saying that they would love to go. Ella did the same, only she texted Carm which took a good twelve or so minutes before she got a reply, saying that they were also in.

After texting them the place and time to meet, the three rushed off to get ready quickly and then returned into the lounge room once done. When all three were back and had everything needed, they padded their way out of their apartment and filed into Ashlyn’s car, they all had a car to themselves, but Ashlyn was always determined to drive them around, so it made sense that her baby would be the go to transportation.

They arrived at the bowling and arcade complex car park and Ashlyn pulled into an empty space.

Turning the car off, the trio got out and made their way inside to wait for the others as they noticed they were the first ones there.

\---

Ali was surfing the web in her room when her phone buzzed, quickly she darted her eyes to the phone sitting on the bed next to her and smiled softly when saw her girlfriend's name across the lit up screen. Reaching over, she read the message and smiled just that little bit bigger, placing her laptop to the side, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up to make her way into the lounge room where Lori and Pinoe were snuggled up watching a movie. She walked all the way into the room with a grin on her face.

Megan was the first to notice her and she quirked an eyebrow up curiously. “What’s got you grinning?” She asked which caught Lori’s attention and she herself turned to see Ali.

“Ashlyn—“ she began and was instantly cut off by Pinoe.

“Should have known!”

Ali rolled her eyes while shaking her head. “Wants to know if we want to go bowling and then hit the arcade afterwards.”

“Duh, course we do!” Pinoe immediately responded as she leaned over and grabbed Lori in a playful headlock while ruffling her hair. “Don’t we!?”

Lori laughed as she pushed her best friend away. “Yeah, I am in,” she nodded.

Ali laughed at the both of them and then brought her phone up to send Ashlyn a text back saying they would love to go. Shortly after she received another text giving them the details of where and when they would meet up. Ali informed the duo on the couch with a smile and headed to her room to get ready

Once ready, they decided to let Megan drive this time as they were walking out of their apartment building towards the car and got in.

Arriving at the complex, Pinoe pulled into a vacant car space and turned the car off. “This is going to be a hella fun night!” She grinned as she reached for the handle to open the door to get out.

Lori and Ali just chuckled lightly and followed her out of the car and into the building.

The brunette’s eyes instantly landed on her girlfriend and a massive grin broke out on her face in which she couldn’t help at all. “Hey, Baby,” Ali let out as soon as she was close enough and immediately wrapped her arms around Ashlyn’s neck to pull her into a kiss.

“Uh, guys, gross! Can you like not!” Pinoe teased. “Yo, my people!” She then let out towards Ella and Whitney. They greeted the girl in return and moved on to saying hello to Lori.

Ali giggled against Ashlyn’s lips and pulled away slowly, she turned towards Pinoe and poked her tongue out the exact same time Ashlyn responded.

“You’re just jealous,” she then turned her attention back to Ali. “Hey, Princess.” “You wish,” Pinoe rolled her eyes playfully.

“Alright, we are just waiting for the Canadian’s now,” Ash informed them while wrapping an arm around her girl.

\----

A message tone had gone off throughout the apartment in which Carm recognised as her own while in the kitchen pouring herself a drink, placing the juice bottle on the counter, she hurried into the lounge room to grab her phone and read the message, a smile tugging its way onto her face.

Carm made her way to Kaylyn’s room first to ask if she wanted to join and got an instant reply saying yes. She then headed towards Erin’s room and knocked on the door, however there wasn’t a response, so she reached for the door handle and inched open the door wide enough for her to stick her head in to see Erin sitting on her bed with her laptop and headphones in clearly listening to music.

“Erin!” Carm spoke loudly as she pushed her way into the room, the girl still didn’t respond or even notice her. Rolling her eyes, she sighed softly and continued walking over to the bed. “Erin? Buddy!” She said again, this time waving her hand in front of her face instantly getting the girl’s attention.

Quickly yanking her headphones off, she looked at Carm curiously. “Hey?” “Welcome back to planet Earth, Buddy,” Carm teased.

“Shut up,” Erin rolled her eyes. “Can I help you?”

Carm grinned. “Ella wants to know if we want to go bowling with everyone. Did you want to come?”

At the mention of Ella’s name, Erin’s heart involuntary sped up inside her chest. “Yeah, sure, why not,” she let out calmly.

"Alright, cool! Will go ask the others and then let you know the details once I know.” “Alright, Buddy,” Erin smiled as she watched Carm leave the room.

Carm left and made her way to the apartment next door to them and knocked twice before entering. “Who wants to go bowling!?” She called out almost immediately after she walked in.

“Sure, sounds fun!” Emily replied just as Carm was walking into the lounge room where they were all situated.

“Sweet! Will let Ella know we are in,” she smiled and pulled her phone out of her pocket to quickly send the American a text saying they were in.

A couple minutes went by when she finally received another text informing her of the details. She told Emily, Sophie and KK the plans and then made her way back to her own apartment to let Kaylyn and Erin know of what’s going on.

Once ready, they all made their way to where they were meeting the others.

\---

“Ah, there they are!” Pinoe let out as she saw the Canadians walk into the building. “’bout time!” She called over to them teasingly.

Carm rolled her eyes. “You be quiet!”

Everyone began greeting each other and the curly haired girl made her way to Ella after saying hey to everybody else. “Hey, Buddy,” She grinned instantly pulling her into a hug.

“Hey, Carm!” Ella grinned back as she wrapped her arms around the taller girl.

Erin had followed Carm’s every step as soon as she began moving towards Ella and as soon as they hugged a funny feeling filled in the pit of her stomach again as she let out a shaky breath and lowered her gaze, she had definitely come accustomed to what was happening by now and she knew for sure that she was jealous.

“Alright let’s figure out the teams!” Megan’s voice called around them and they all shot their gaze into her direction as they moved in closer, Carm left her arm around Ella as the other girl did the same – much to Erin’s dismay. “Alright so how about three Americans and three Canadians to a team?”

Everyone hummed in agreement so Pinoe continued. “Mm, kay… how about Carm, KK, Sophie, Ella, Ali, and…” she trailed off looking at Ashlyn who rolled her eyes. “Ashlyn,” she smirked as the blonde now scoffed lightly and shook her head. “Verses; Kaylyn, Erin, Emily, Whit, Lori and myself?”

“Sounds good to me!” Ella quickly chimed in before anyone else could and they all followed in agreeing with the teams.

Erin however frowned slightly when she realized she wasn’t on the same team as Ella, but she quickly turned the frown into a grin to not draw attention, she knew Ella liked her, but she also knew this was all new to her, so things were definitely going to move slow and she seriously couldn’t help her thoughts from straying to the idea of Carm and Ella dating.

“Let’s get sorted then!” Ashlyn’s voice sounded this time and then she began to head to the main counter to get two lanes and their bowling shoes.

After getting the shoes sorted, they worked their way to the two lanes near the far left hand side grabbing a few bowling balls in the process and placing them on the ball return.

“Are we going to have a competition?” Lori asked.

“Oh, yeah! Losing team buys the food and arcade tokens,” Pinoe quickly chimed in with a smirk.

“You’re on,” Ashlyn smirked back as she rose both of her eyebrows and lowered them just as quickly.

The game began and they all got into it, cheering on their fellow teammates and encouraging them when they didn’t have a good round, it allowed them to keep their spirits high for when it was their turn to bowl again.

The game was a close one and now they were on the second last round, Pinoe’s team was in the lead by just a couple points and it was Carm’s turn to bowl.

“Come on, Carm. You got this!” Ella cheered her on as she readied herself to fling the ball down the lane.

“Yeah, let’s go Carm!” KK cheered happily.

Carm turned around and grinned at her team one last time before she began to inch closer to the line and swung her hand back to slide the ball down the lane, she stood up straight a few second after letting it go and just watched as it edged its way to the pins.

Closer…

Closer… it felt like it was going in slow motion.

Then the shattering of the pins dropping echoed throughout the place and a cheerful scream followed.

“YOU GOT A STRIKE, CARM! WOOO!” Ella yelled as she jumped off her seat and rushed over to the curly haired girl, instantly jumping onto her in excitement. “Boom! We got this now! Hell yeah!” Ella grinned again as she moved away from Carm.

Erin’s attention was pretty much always focused on the other side‘s team, jealously continued to fill her body with each lingering look, each high-five, and each hug that was shared between the two and although she tried to deny it, she envied how close Carm has gotten to the music store worker in such little time.

“Don’t mess this up, Megan!” Lori teased as she needed at least a spare to still be in the lead.

Pinoe rolled her eyes as she took her spot getting ready to bowl, she moved forward and lunged it down the alley way, following it’s every move. “Fucking hell!” She groaned as the pins fell – all but two.

“Hah! 7-10 split!" Ashlyn called out in a teasing manner.

“Shut up!” Pinoe rolled her eyes again as she grabbed another bowling ball and flung it down the alley hitting only one pin. She huffed and made her way back to the seats to sit down.

“It’s okay, Pin!” Lori comforted her.

The game went into their final round and Ashlyn’s team ended up winning.

“YES!” Ashlyn yelled loudly as soon as the last pin fell down. “SUCKAS!” She grinned to the other team who were a little less than pleased.

“Yeah, yeah… shut up, Ash.”

“WINNERS!” Ella scream towards Carm and once again wrapped her in a hug, she lingered a second longer than Erin liked and the girl had to look away. As soon as they all returned their shoes and the bowling balls, Ella's voice sounded around them again. “Let’s go play some arcade games! Dibs on air hockey, who wants to join me?” She rushed out as she moved away from Carm and began heading towards the arcade area.

“Oh, you are definitely on!” Whitney called out as she followed the ball of energy towards the area, stopping to get tokens along the way however.

Mostly everyone else laughed as they followed not long after, Carm however noticed Erin lagging behind and then headed towards a vacant table to just sit down. Frowning she made her way over and slipped into the seat next to her.

“Are you alright?” She asked softly after a beat of silence.

Erin let out a small breath that Carm instantly picked up on as being not fine. “Of course, why wouldn't I be?” She let out anyway hoping her best friend would let it go, but she knew Carm better than that.

“Erin, Buddy… I know you and you definitely don’t sound alright, what's wrong?”

“It’s stupid, don’t worry.”

“Erin…”

The girl sighed again. “Fine, I guess I am jealous,” she mumbled out as she raised her hand to the back of her neck and rubbed it anxiously.

Carm’s eyes widened slightly for a moment and then she squinted them a little confused at her best friend’s confession. “Jealous of what?”

“Of you and Ella, I guess…” she mumbled again still trying her best to get out of this conversation.

“What!?” Carm instantly said the second Erin finished talking. “What? Why are you jealous?”

“I…” Erin let out a long breath. “Because she hangs out with you more.”

It finally dawned on Carm what she meant and she laughed immediately causing Erin to look at her weirdly.

“Bud, you’re an idiot, there is nothing to be jealous about.” “I can’t help how I feel whenever I see you two together!

‘Erin, I really shouldn’t but I am going to tell you this because I love you and don’t want you to be upset anymore. Every time Ella and I hang out, she mainly talks about you.” “Me?” Erin looked at her friend like she had two heads.

“She likes you Erin, she’s just trying to wrap her head around all of this because she isn’t used to being attracted to girls.”

“You’re helping her?”

“For the better, yeah. Just give her time, alright?”

“Got it,” Erin smiled feeling a little better about all of this now that she knew she still had somewhat of a chance with Ella.

“Good, now are you coming to play some games?”

“Nah, not at the moment, just going to sit here for a moment. I will come later,”

“Suit yourself,” Carm shrugged as she slid out of the chair and headed towards the others.

Erin smiled and watched as she got closer to the group surrounding the air hockey table, but it fell a little as Ella pulled Carm into a side hug while turning to give her a massive grin. She quickly turned her gaze away as she noticed Ella begin to turn her head in her direction and fought the urge to look back up. “Don’t do it, Erin,” she whispered to herself as she squeezed her eye shut to try and not raise her gaze back over to them. Bringing her hands up to her face, she rubbed her eyes and sighed not even aware of a body sliding into the seat next to her.

“Hey,” a soft whisper came from beside her and she quickly shot her gaze in its direction.

“Eh… hey,” Erin mumbled softly as she felt the nerves build inside her and she mentally told herself to calm down.

“Are you alright?” Ella asked in concern.

“Yeah, I am fine,’ Erin replied as calmly as she possibly could.

Ella was a little unconvinced but she left it anyway. “Okay, then why are you over here and not over where the fun is?”

Erin shrugged. “Just having a little breather.”

“Nah, come on, Erin,” Ella bumped her shoulder against the older girl’s. “Come have some fun!” She continued. “Pleeeeaseee!” She begged.

“Oh my god, fine!” Erin finally gave in, she was going to give in the second Ella asked her but the begging was just too adorable to not hear.

“Yes,” Ella raised her hand in victory and then got up off the seat, she instantly took a hold of the older girl’s hand once she was standing.

As soon as the American grabbed her hand, a tingle had ran across her hand and up her arm slowly which caused her heart to beat just a fraction more than it was already racing. And somehow she knew Ella felt it too because she stopped her attempt to lead her to where the rest of the gang was for a split second and that made a smile tug at the side of her lips.

Ella’s heart raced inside her chest at the feeling that ran up her own arm as their hands touched and it made her step falter for a moment as a blush crept up her neck. She snapped out of it after a moment and continued to lead Erin towards the arcade.

“Ahh, finally, Erin!” Kaylyn teased as her gaze lowered to their joint hands and a smirk formed on her face as she looked back up to her best friend, she raised her eyebrows knowingly and earned the well-known glare from Erin – teasing her was way too easy.

“You, shut up!” Erin quickly back fired and rolled her eyes.

“Love you too,” Kaylyn grinned as she winked and turned back to the competition going on between Ashlyn and Whitney on the air hockey table.

For the next hour they were moving about the arcade playing the different games. Ella instead of hanging out with Carm like she usually would, actually spent the rest of their time hanging with Erin and one scene in particular had actually caught the curly haired girl’s attention completely and she couldn’t help but smile brightly.

It was when Ella had dragged Erin over to the double shootout basketball game, they were both playing fairly for the first couple of shots until Erin decided it would be good idea to mess with Ella a bit. Just as the younger girl was about to take her shot, Erin wrapped her hands around the girl’s waist, causing her to squeal and miss the basket completely.

“Erin!” She yelped. “That’s cheating!”

“No, it isn’t!” Erin laughed as she moved back after the American playfully swatted at her arm and she raised her hands in the air.

“It is too!” She pouted and then couldn’t help the massive laugh that took over and her whole face lit up because of it.

_Can she be any cuter?_ Erin stared at her for a moment and then quickly shook her head once she realized. “Alright, fine…" she began as she moved forward and wrapped Ella in a hug in which the shorter girl returned immediately.

_God, how can it feel so perfect being in her arms?_ Ella thought as she clung to her, getting lost in the moment.

“I’ll tell you what…” Erin finally said once she got her motor skills working again and she pulled back slightly. “How about I let you have my turn to make it up to you?” “Yes! I mean it’s the least you could do,” Ella bantered.

“Shut up and take the shot,” Erin laughed lightly.

\---

Once everyone had had enough of the arcade, they moved back into the lobby of the building and decided what to do next.

“Who wants to go out for drinks? The night is still young!” They all pretty much agreed to going out.

“Nah, I’m a little tired to be honest, I will just catch a cab home,” Ella responded once everyone was quiet.

Erin quickly turned her head into her direction. “I can take you home?” She immediately let out before anyone else could even process what Ella had said. A knowing smirk fell on practically everyone’s faces at that suggestion.

“You don’t have too, you said you wanted to go out,” Ella blushed a little.

“I know, but I want too. I don’t know how I feel about you catching a cab by yourself,” she let out normally without much thought to it.

Ella, however, bit her lip as the blush deepened and ran up her neck. “Uh… I… okay.. I mean if you want… that is,” she mumbled nervously.

“Definitely,” Erin grinned and looked up to Carm and Kaylyn. “If that’s alright with you two?” “Yeah! I am sure we can fit into Em’s car, it’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Carm smirked.

“Alright, then we will see you all later, have fun!” Erin replied as she took hold of Ella’s hand automatically and began to lead her out after she mumbled a nervous goodbye.

\---

Erin led Ella to her car, unlocking the door, she opened it for Ella and smirked as she saw the blush fill the younger girl’s face because of it, after Ella was in, she closed it after her and made her way around to get into the driver’s seat. She started the car and pulled out of the car space to begin heading out of the car park to make her way to Ella’s apartment, where she had only been a couple of times, but knew off by heart with how to get to it.

Five minutes later Erin began to sing along with the radio and Ella slowly turned her head to watch her as a soft smile took over her face. The Canadian was too busy in her own world to realize that the girl was staring until near the end of the song when she finally turned her head to see Ella already looking at her.

“What?” She let out softly.

Shaking her head quickly, she brought her hand up to her mouth a coughed nervously. “Nonothing, you just have a really gorgeous voice. I, uh… I really love hearing you sing,” she nervously let out.

Erin grinned. “Well, I’m performing at this bar next Friday night if you would like to come?”

Ella bit her lower lip to stop a smile from forming on her face as she ducked her gaze and slowly nodded. “I’d love too.”

“I will send you the details later and you can bring whoever you like.”

“Great.”

The car went back to semi-silence again for the rest of the trip back to the American’s apartment, the only noise coming from the radio and Erin occasionally singing with it.

Pulling into a car spot, Erin turned off the car and turned to Ella, she opened her mouth to say something but the other girl already beat her to it.

“Do you want to come up and watch a movie?” She said almost too quickly and confidently that it surprised her completely.

“Sure,” Erin softly replied, a little surprised herself.

“Awesome.”

“Wait!” She rapidly let out as she saw Ella reach for the door handle.

Ella’s eyes widened a little as she looked back to Erin with a questioning look.

“One second,” she rushed out and reached for her own handle, she opened it and ran around to Ella’s and quickly swung it open. “After you,” she smiled as she used her hand to motion around her.

“Oh…” Ella blushed deeply as she realized what Erin was doing, she got out of the car and mumbled a thanks or at least she hope she did.

Erin locked the car up and made her way back to Ella, holding out her hand.

Ella took hold of it with a shy grin. “I could get used to this,” she spoke without really thinking and then blushed again.

“You really are adorable,” Erin admitted.

“Oh... I…uh… well… yeah, thanks.” She muttered out shyly.

The Canadian chuckled and then began to lead her into the building, she had never actually been in with all the time they had hung out, she mainly just picked and dropped Ella off out the front when they all hung out, or met her somewhere. “Where’s your key?” She asked tilting her head to look at Ella.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a set of keys, found the apartment one and handed it to Erin who took it. Ella then led her to her apartment and stopped by the door, allowing the older woman to unlock it and then entered the place, she didn’t once stop as she took Erin straight to her room, even though the Canadian was eyeing the place as best she could.

“And this is my room,” she let out awkwardly as they stopped by the foot of the queen sized bed.

“I would surely hope you would have taken me into your room and not Ashlyn’s or Whitney’s,” Erin laughed.

Ella laughed awkwardly with her. “Of course,” she pressed her lips together embarrassed.

Erin smiled softly as she turned her gaze to look around the room, her eyes instant fell onto the girl’s desk and a childlike drawing that was framed. “Okay, what is this!?” She let out amused as she walked over to it and picked it up.

Ella followed and tilted her head to look at it. She laughed in embarrassment as her face flushed red. “Hey now! I painted that when I was five! It was meant to be my family and they were all proud of it and loved it. So I keep it as a memory.” “Aw, that’s cute,” Erin chuckled.

Ella rolled her eyes and shook her head as she began to reach for the painting, however Erin moved it out of her reach. “Erin give it!” Ella quickly said as she continued to move towards her while trying to get it.

“No, I want to look at it some more!” Erin laughed.

They were both laughing as Ella continued to try and get the picture from her and Erin continued to move it away. They had gotten extremely close by the time Ella finally got a grip on the painting and she grinned in success as she looked up at Erin, noticing how close they actually were. Neither of them had the intention of moving as they continued to stare at each other.

The American bit her lip as she just stared mesmerized by the Canadian and the only thoughts running through her mind was a part of her telling herself to just kiss her, but another part of her was still scared shitless.

_Just do it, Ella…_ “Erin…” she breathed out quietly and was unsure if she actually used her vocal cords or not. _Should I kiss her…? I don’t know. Shit._

“Yeah?” Erin smiled softly and that smile was all Ella needed as a confirmation to slowly begin to lean towards her. _Fuck, what is she doing!? Shit…_ Erin’s heart was pumping even more that she could have sworn it was going to escape her chest at any moment as she saw Ella leaning forward.

She began to lean in as well.

_It’s now or never…_ Ella’s final thought’s raced through her mind as she closed the distance between them and softly pressed her lips against the Canadians. _Holy shit…_ is the only thing she could manage to think as an instant spark ran throughout her body, her lips already tingling.

_Holy fuck, she’s kissing me!_ Erin’s whole body exploded with joy. _She’s actually kissing me…_ she thought again more as a confirmation as she slowly began to move her lips against Ella’s.

_Shit, I am actually kissing her…_ Ella thought as she began to panic when she thought Erin wasn’t going to kiss her back, but when the other girl’s lips moved against her own, butterflies formed in her stomach even more. _Damn… she’s a good kisser._

Erin slowly began to snake her arms around Ella while pulling her closer as she deepened the kiss

a little.

Ella in return slowly moved her arms around Erin’s neck as she stepped closer into her until their bodies were flush against one another, she didn’t really take much notice of this because she was too focused on how amazing it felt kissing the Canadian.

They only broke apart when Erin slowed the kiss down and pulled away to gently press her forehead against Ella’s. Both of them kept their eyes closed for about a whole minute, it was Erin who was first to open her eyes, kind of afraid that what just happened was a dream, but when she saw Ella in her arms still, she grinned massively.

“Holy shit…” Ella whispered out without opening her eyes.

Erin chuckled lightly. “Is that a good holy shit?”

Grinning, Ella slowly pulled back to look at her. “Most definitely,” she confirmed shyly.

“Then yeah… holy shit.”

Ella giggled as she buried her head into Erin’s neck not sure of what to say or even do anymore.

Erin held her tightly for brief moment. “So, that movie?” She asked changing the subject because she knew that Ella was still extremely nervous about all of this.

The American stayed quite for a second and then pulled back. “Right, the movie,” she grinned and pulled away from her. “We should get changed first. I have a pair of sweats and a shirt you can borrow, if you want?”

“That’d be great,” Erin smiled sweetly at her.

“Okay,” Ella mumbled as she moved away completely from her and went to her closet, pulling out some sweats and shirt for Erin, she turned around. “Here, you can use the bathroom,” she nodded to the open door and threw the clothes to the woman.

Erin caught the clothes and nodded her head in confirmation. “Got it,” she smiled as she made her way into the room and closed the door behind her.

Ella smiled and immediately turned back around to get her own clothes to change into.

By the time Erin left the bathroom, Ella was dressed and getting the laptop ready for them to watch a movie.

“What do you want to watch?” She asked when she noticed Erin walking towards her.

"I don't know... you can pick."

“How about Divergent?”

“Yeah, I have been meaning to watch that, just keep forgetting!”

“Perfect,” Ella smiled as she got the movie ready on the laptop, then turned to switch her lamp on before making her way over to turn her light off. “Do you want a drink?”

“Eh, just a bottle of water.”

“Alright, I will be right back, make yourself comfortable.”

“Got it.”

Ella smiled and quickly made her way out of the room and into the kitchen to get two bottles of water. She returned a few minutes later and handed one to Erin and then moved around the bed to hop onto it. She placed the laptop between them and confidently moved Erin’s arm around her as she snuggled in close.

Erin grinned and shifted a little bit to get comfortable as Ella reached out to press play on the movie.


	7. Chapter 7

Ella slowly began to stir in her slumber. A small quiet groan moved past her lips at the faint sounds of the birds chirping outside. Just as she began to move her arms up to rub her face, she stopped almost immediately as she felt a weight beside her, her gaze quickly lowered and she noticed an arm draped around her waist. Instant panic began to race throughout her as her heartbeat quickened inside her chest, she tried to think of what happened last night and for a moment she couldn’t quite register anything and that made her freak out even more. Her eyes moved even lower and let out a small breath as she saw that she was clothed.

“What the hell…” she managed to breath out as she turned her head as slowly and carefully as to not wake the other person up. A soft sigh of relief escaped her when she saw who was lying next to her and the events of last night began to play in her head; meeting at the bowling alley, the game, the winning, the arcade, the misunderstanding to getting the right end of the stick, the basketball game, the leaving and coming back to her apartment with Erin, the bundles of nerves, the teasing of the photo to the kiss – God, that kiss, it was one of the best damn kisses she had ever had. She could feel her cheeks warming at the thought of it and then her mind went a little astray and she started to ponder what it would have been like to actually go _further_ with the Canadian. Her eyes instantly widened at the thought as her heart quickened a few extra beats inide her chest and she quickly and carefully untangled herself from Erin and got off the bed, she shook her head as she closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them as she turned around and looked at the sleeping woman. A smile crept on her face but vanished just as fast as the thoughts came back into her mind.

Turning around, Ella shuffled as fast as she could out of her room and towards the kitchen to attempt to make breakfast. Reaching the fridge, she let out a long breath and moved forward to lean her head against it. “God, damn…” she mumbled out as she tried to steady her heart from racing like no other.

“You alright there, Els?” Someone spoke from the doorway.

“Holy shit!” Ella let out breathlessly as she jumped a few feet off the ground as she pushed away from the fridge at the sudden voice. She looked over to the source and instantly glared. “Don’t do that, Ash!” She said in the same manner as she moved over and punched the blonde's arm hard.

“Ow!” Ashlyn winced through her laughter and brought her hand up to rub her upper arm. “Well, that was rude.”

“Yeah, well you scared the hell out of me!” She huffed as she moved back to lean against the fridge.

Ashlyn raised her hands in the air in surrender. “Sorry,” she let out with amusement still lacing her tone.

“Yeah, sure…” Ella rolled her eyes and huffed again. She then raised an eyebrow. “What are doing up so early? Didn’t you stay out last night?”

The blonde shrugged. “Yeah, stayed out for a couple of hours and then got bored, so it wasn’t that late when we got back to the apartment.”

“Right, okay.”

“Came to check on you and…” she trailed off with a smirk that Ella caught onto almost immediately.

“Oh…” an involuntary blush took over her face as she tried to bite back a smile.

“Mhm, you were definitely all cuddled up into Erin,” Ash raised her eyebrows knowingly. “It was really cute, Els.” She teased.

“Ergh, jeez. Don’t. Shut up. Stop.” She quickly shook her head as she raised her hands to her face and grumbled.

Ashlyn noticed the change in her tone and she softened up as she moved over to her best friend.

“Ella…” she let out softly and placed a hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

Ella let out a soft breath as she lowered her hands and shrugged a little not sure how to put what she’s thinking into words. “I dunno… I just…” she shook her head. “I don’t know what I

want…”

Ash raised an eyebrow and squinted her eyes. “What does that even mean?”

Letting out another breathy sigh, Ella looked to Ashlyn quickly and then lowered her gaze. “I mean, I am at the point where I want to keep Erin as close to me as I possibly can because, yes… I

really do like her, but then there is a part of me that is still so completely scared and panicky that all I want to do is push her as far away from me as I possibly can... I just don’t know what to do.”

Giving Ella a look of sympathy, Ash went to respond but was cut off by someone clearing their throat from the doorway. The pair quickly turned their heads to it’s direction and Ella’s face instantly paled as she saw Erin.

“I should probably head off...” Erin said quietly.

“You don’t have too…” Ella quickly let out. “I…uh…was just about to make breakfast.”

Erin smiled a little and shook her head. “Nah, I have to go shower and check in on Carm and Kay.”

“Oh… okay, I’ll…erm… walk you out,” she let out quietly as she rushed towards the Canadian and began heading towards the front door.

A small laugh escaped the older woman as she looked up towards Ashlyn when Ella headed out of the kitchen, she gave a small nod to the blonde and shook her head amused at the smug look she was receiving.

“See ya, Erin,” Ashlyn winked and then turned towards the refrigerator to open it.

“Yeah, later,” Erin responded as she began to turn and head towards the door. She had heard what

Ella had said, but she honestly didn't care, she knew the battle Ella was facing at the moment and was going to be there for her with whatever she decided to do.

Ella waited by the door and gave a sheepish smile once she saw Erin making her way towards her. “I guess I will see you later.”

Erin raised her hand to the back of her neck and nervously rubbed it. “Uh, so… I heard about this place in the area that you most likely know about but, eh… I was wondering if you wanted to go with me tonight?”

“As in a date?” Ella said almost instantly surprising the both of them.

The Canadian’s eyes widened a little as her mouth dropped open only slightly. “I.. mean… no, it doesn’t have to be a date, we can go as friends because I don’t want to rush you, but I don’t mind if it’s a date, because I like you and well either w—“

Ella quickly moved forward and grabbed the other woman’s face as she instantly pressed her lips against the others to stop the girl from rambling. “It’s a date,” she spoke feeling a little bolder about her actions. The part of wanting to keep Erin as close to her as possible winning just a little more for the time being.

“Oh…” Erin whispered out as her face started to heat up and she was clearly blushing. A bright shy smile took over her face as well and Ella swore that it was the cutest damn thing she had ever seen. “Perfect… I mean, great, it’s a date… I’ll pick you up at eight.” She grinned even more and then pulled a face. “I didn’t mean for that to rhyme…”

Ella giggled and shook her head in amusement. “It was cute, so don’t worry. I will see you at eight.”

Erin nodded and leaned to give Ella a gentle kiss on the cheek. “Bye.”

“Bye…” Ella whispered as the Canadian opened the door and headed out of the apartment.

Walking back into the Kitchen with a massively bright smile on her face, Ella looked up to see

Ashlyn just smirking completely amused at her. Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. “What?”

“Oh… nothing.”

“Yeah… okay.”

Ashlyn chuckled lightly as she took another sip of her juice. “Anyway, are we going to do something tonight?”

“No, I have a date with Erin,” Ella said almost immediately without hesitation and her eyes widened. “I…uh…I have…um…a date, yeah… with… erm, Erin,” she said again this time stuttering nervously as her cheeks got bright red.

As soon as Ella mentioned the date without hesitation, Ashlyn eyes also widened and she almost spat the drink of juice she had in her mouth out. Swallowing it, she quickly smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah… I got that the first time,” she laughed in amusement. “Aw, that’s so cute, Els!”

The blonde continued to tease. “Where are you going?”

Ella’s cheeks blushed a deeper red as she rolled her eyes again. “I… don’t actually know where we are going.”

“Mm…kay” Ashlyn drawled out. “Would you like some breakfast?” She asked changing the subject.

Ella smiled gratefully and nodded. “Yes, please.”

\---

Erin left the apartment with a massive grin on her face, she made her way to her car, got in, started it and then drove home, the smile on her face not once leaving as she pulled into a parking space and killed the engine. Getting out of the car, she makes her way to her apartment and walks in, noting that it’s rather quiet, so, she figured that her roommates were still sleep. Making her way to her room, she headed straight to her closet to grab some fresh clothes for the day and then moved towards the bathroom to have a shower.

Once she was showered and dressed, Erin made her way out into the kitchen to make some breakfast. As she entered the room, Carm was standing over the stove cooking some pancakes and she smiled softly.

“Hey, Bud,” she spoke gently and made her way to the refrigerator to pull out some juice.

Carm quickly glanced over her shoulder and smirked as she saw Erin. “Have a good night?” She asked as she turned her attention back to the food.

Erin leaned back from her search of a drink and rolled her eyes at her best friend. “Yeah, we hung out, watched a movie and fell asleep half way through it.”

“Is that all?”

“Yeah…. What else did you think would happen?” Erin asked with a quirked eyebrow. There was no way she was going to mention the kiss.

“Nothing…”

Although she couldn’t see it, Erin knew that Carm had a massive smug look on her face and knew exactly what she was thinking. Poking her head back into the fridge, she ignored the inner question that the girl was clearly asking her and pulled out the juice she was looking for.

Carm took notice to this and decided to change the topic. “You want some pancakes?” “Would love some!” Erin grinned.

“Well, go wake Kaylyn up and then head to the table.”

“No problem,” Erin replied as she made her way out of the room, headed to the dining room table to place the bottle on it and then made her way to the blonde’s room. Knocking lightly on the door, she heard a faint come in, so she opened it slightly to poke her head in. “Breakfast is on the table,” she spoke softly into the room.

“Okay, I will be out in a second. Thanks,” Kaylyn responded.

Erin nodded and leaned back out of the room to make her way back to the table, she sat down on one of the chairs just as Carm was bringing out the plate of pancakes.

“Good timing,” Carm winked as she set the plate down and sat herself.

Not long after Kaylyn had joined them and they began to eat.

“So, are you joining us for movie night next door?” The blonde was first to break the silence after a few minutes.

“Eh… no. I am going out with Ella tonight,” she said normally with a shrug.

The other two looked at each other and smirked knowingly. “Oh, yeah?” Carm said with raised eyebrows. “As in a date?” She continued through a grin.

Erin rolled her eyes and sighed. “Yes, as in a date. And before you start, shut up!” Carm smirked again as she nodded slowly and went back to eating.

Erin knew exactly what she was thinking once again and she shook her head.

“Well, have fun.” Kaylyn said in a teasing tone which made Erin groan.

“Yeah, yeah.” Erin responded. She couldn’t wait for the day to be over, so she could hang out with Ella some more.

\---

For both Ella and Erin, the day seemed like it had went on forever - that time had surely stopped at one point for a good three hours, before it started ticking again and continued to move at a snail pace for the rest of the afternoon. When it finally hit 6:30, Ella couldn’t help the massive smile that took over her face. _Only an hour and a half to go!_ She thought to herself as she began picking out an outfit. She had texted the Canadian earlier to ask where they were going and what she should wear, however, all she got in response was to wear something comfortable and that she wasn’t going to say where they were going.

In the other apartment, Erin had the same feeling, although she just wanted it to be time for her to head off the pick the younger girl up, her nerves continued to grow as the minutes ticked by and her two roomies seemed to notice.

“Calm down.”

“You’ve never been this nervous.”

“This is really hilarious to see.”

“Aww, Erin is a little... more like a lot nervous.”

“You're too cute, Bud!”

Are just a few comment she got thrown her way as she paced the house a few dozen times after getting ready. She was dressed in a simple light blue button down shirt, pair of navy skinny jeans and a pair of tan timberland boots.

Finally when it was closer to 8. Erin gathered up her stuff quickly, said goodbye to her roommates and headed out of the apartment - not without getting teased a little in the process. She made her way to her car, got in, started it and made her way to Ella’s place just a few minutes before 8.

Pulling into a car space, she turned off the engine, got out and headed up towards the apartment.

Knocking a few times, she took a deep breath in and slowly let it out as she rocked back and forth on her feet, nerves picking up by the millisecond.

“I’ve got it,” she heard a muffled voice say on the other side of the door and then it was swung open. An instant smile took over the Canadian’s face as she saw Ella on the other side.

“Hi,” Ella softly whispered as a blush crept up her neck and into her cheeks.

“Hi, yourself,” Erin grinned even bigger. “You look nice,” she nodded once.

The blush on her face deepened as it now reached her ears, she lowered her gaze to the floor and shuffled her right foot against it. “Th- thank you,” she mumbled out. Ella was wearing a pale green sweater, denim jeans and dark brown leather boots. “You’re not so bad yourself,” she smiled shyly as she stepped out of the apartment and closed the door.

“Well, thank you,” Erin smiled. “I take it you have everything?”

“Yep, all ready to go.”

“Alright, then let’s head off.”

The pair made their way out of the building and towards Erin’s car, the Canadian made sure to open the door for Ella, which made the American’s blush stay plastered on her face, she thanked the older woman and got in.

After closing the passenger side door, Erin made her way around to her side and got in the car her, she started the engine and could barely hear the noise of it over her beating heart, to say she was incredibly nervous was an understatement, in fact she was panicking just a little more than she’d like on the inside, she just really wanted this date to go well and hoped Ella liked what she had planned.

Pulling out of the car space, she turned to Ella quickly, gave her a tiny smile and then turned back to the road as she began to head to their destination. The drive was rather entertaining, they talked about their day and how it went painfully slow for the both of them, they spoke about their life some more, still able to learn a little more about each other which they thought wasn’t even possible and then they listened to a little bit of music, which once again Erin sang along to and Ella listened with a massive grin on her face.

Finally they arrived where they needed to be which was; Santa Monica Pier and Ella’s face lit up as she saw where they were.

“An amusement park!?” Ella grinned brightly.

“Yeah, thought it’d be a different and unique type of date… Eh, I know it’s kind of kiddish,

but…”

“No, I love this idea,” Ella assured her.

“Great!” Erin grinned in return as she pulled into a free car space and killed the engine, her heart was still beating crazily in her chest, but now it wasn’t from panicking about Ella not liking what she had planned, it was more just nerves from being around her. Getting out of the car, she quickly rushed around and opened the door. “After you,” she whispered softly.

Ella smiled shyly and got out of the car. “Thank you,” she spoke softly in return.

Erin quickly made her way over to pay for the parking and then they began heading towards the entrance. Ella went to pull out some money to pay for some ride tickets, but Erin stopped her almost instantly. “Eh, no! I am paying, I asked you on this date, so…” she trailed off with a smile and walked the rest of the way to the lady behind the window of the ticket booth, she bought them both unlimited ride wristbands and handed Ella hers when she had received them.

Once they had the wristbands on, they continued into the park and Ella breathed in the aroma of the area- Immediately being hit with the smell of fried food with a hint of sugar. Hot dogs, pizza, fries and cotton candy filled her senses and it brought back her childhood, she loved going to the amusement park with her family and especially enjoyed all the fatty foods that her parents allowed her to eat only on the occasions when they went. The rides were followed closely behind and not far after that were the games, she would always have so much fun and now that she was here, she was loving this date even more.

As the younger girl looked around, the area was casted with bright different coloured florescent lights wherever she were to look and that reflection rainbow coloured light to flow throughout the entire park, which made it look kind of magical. The laughter of young kids running around and screaming happily on the rides, brought a massive grin on her face at how much fun they were having. Then the teenage couples hanging around at the games, where the boys and even some girls were trying to win their girlfriend’s a prize, it was all too sweet to be honest.

Looking towards the rides, Ella’s face once again lit up. “Oh!’ Ella quickly said and turned to Erin, instantly grabbing her hand and tugging on it. “Let’s go on the West Coaster first,” she grinned and began to pull her into its direction.

A tingle ran all the way up the Canadian’s arm as Ella grabbed her hand, her heartbeat quickened and for a moment she felt like she couldn’t breathe as the American began to drag her to the ride. Finally once she was able to, she let out a chuckle and slowly nodded her head. “Sure, whatever you want,” she smiled as they got into the waiting line. It was mostly filled with kids and their parents, which made them feel a little out of place, but they didn’t really care.

About ten minutes had gone by and it was finally their turn to get on the ride, they flashed the young man behind in charge of the ride their wristband and as they were heading towards the ride, they got a smirk thrown their way from the boy and they were a little unsure the reason behind it.

After the ride, they went on a few more appropriate ones, concluding with that Pacific Wheel. Once that was over, they made their way to the food stands to grab a bite to eat. Erin ordered some fries and Ella got a pepperoni pizza in which they could share. When they finally got their food, they found a vacant table, sat down and ate.

The pair headed towards the games area after they had finished eating and spent about a good hour just playing the games and wasting a little more money than needed, but Erin didn’t care, she was happy to pay as much as she did in reward to seeing the American’s bright smile and rosy cheeks. They had won a bunch of tiny toys along the way until Ella pulled Erin over to the Mini Hoops and managed to win a bear in which she gave to Erin. The Canadian chuckled and grinned at the gesture and was even able to win a cute bear herself to give to Ella. They headed to the car quickly and placed the prizes in it.

“Do you want to get some sweets and take a walk along the shoreline?” Erin asked once she closed the door to the car.

“Yeah, that sounds like a lovely idea.”

Erin smiled with a nod as she led her over to the food stands once again and grabbed a funnel cake, dippin’ dots, and fresh spun cotton candy. With the food in hand, they made their way out of the park and began walking along the beach, when they were a fair distance away from the park, they sat down on the sand and began eating what they got.

“You know… this has got to be the best date I’ve been on,” Ella admitted after a moment of silence.

Erin turned to her with a smile on her face. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Ella grinned as she leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to Erin’s cheek.

The Canadian blushed lightly as she looked down to he cotton candy in her hand with a shy grin on her face. “Me too,” she whispered softly.

After about another hour, they had eaten all the food, spoken about random things and decided that it’d be best to head home now. Picking up the rubbish, they headed back up to the pier to throw the rubbish away and headed towards the car.

As soon as they were settled, Erin started the car, reversed out of the car space and headed back towards Ella’s apartment. The drive back was mostly Erin singing along with the radio and Ella enjoying the angelic tone of the Canadian’s voice. ---

“I’ll walk you to your door,” Erin smiled as they finally got back to younger girl’s apartment.

“Okay…” Ella spoke sheepishly as she blushed once again, it had seemed to stay on her face the entire night, but she didn’t really care, it was just what happened to her when she's around the Canadian.

They headed towards Ella’s apartment and stopped outside the door. Erin stuffed her hands into her pockets nervously as she shuffled on the spot, not sure if it was okay to kiss her or not. She had been restraining herself all night, because she knows that Ella is still trying to comprehend all of this. It was a lot harder than she ever imagined, but was glad she was able to stop herself in certain situations throughout the night, especially with how close they got after winning a game and Ella would pull her into a tight hug, or kiss her cheek from time to time. She knew people were looking at them strangely but there was no way that she was going to bring that up to Ella and freak her out even more.

“Thank you for a lovely evening,” Ella spoke softly as she rocked back and forth on her feet.

“You’re welcome,” Erin smiled. A small awkward silence fell over them for a second. “Can… um… can I give you a goodnight kiss?” Erin asked shyly with a soft blush running across her cheeks.

Ella grinned shyly herself and nodded sheepishly in response.

The Canadian smiled softly and raised both of her hands to Ella’s face, leaning forward, she pressed her lips softly against hers in a tender kiss.

Ella instantly melted into it and moved her arms to wrap around the older girl’s waist as she pulled their bodies closer together.

This action caused Erin to tilt her head a little as she deepened the kiss slightly until she slowed it down and pulled back, pecking Ella’s lips once more. “Goodnight,” she whispered softly.

With a grin on her face, Ella pulled back and stepped backwards towards the door, bumping into it softly as she bit her lip. “Night,” she shyly spoke. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” she continued.

Erin nodded in response as Ella turned around and opened the door.

She snuck one last look at the Canadian as she closed the door and leaned back against it as she closed her eyes. “Best. Night. Ever.” She whispered softly to herself as she pushed her way off the door and headed towards her room.

Erin stared at the door for a moment and then turned back around, she left the apartment with a bright grin on her face, pretty much thinking the same thing.


	8. Chapter 8

A soft knock sounded through their apartment early Sunday morning. Ella and Ashlyn stared at each other midway of sipping their coffee, their eyes narrowed as their eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Neither of them making a move to go get the door, because who in their right mind would be coming to their door at seven in the morning?

After a moment, Ella finally sighed and lowered her mug from her lips. With the roll of her eyes, she got up from the dining room chair and began to head towards the door. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll get it.” she sassed towards the blonde as she shook her head.

Ashlyn’s face broke out into a dimpled grin as she took a sip of her coffee and lowered it. “Love you too, Ella!” she spoke a little too loudly than she needed.

“Whatever, Jerk!” she called back as she reached the door and opened it slowly. “Oh… HI!” she spoke in complete surprise at seeing who was on the other side.

“Hey,” Erin smiled in amusement as she couldn’t wipe the smile from her face, especially hearing the small banter between the two Americans, she honestly found their relationship quite adorable.

Ella smiled softly and tilted her head to the side, her heart began to thump inside her chest as her nerves began to spread throughout her entire body.

They stood at the door staring at each other for about a minute until Erin finally shook her head coming back into reality. A soft blush danced across her cheeks at being too caught up with staring at the younger girl.  Clearing her throat, she brought her free hand to the back of her neck and rubbed it – something she found herself doing quite a lot lately while being around Ella. “I… uh, you left this in my car last night,” she spoke softly as she pulled her hand from her back to reveal a tan teddy bear that the Canadian had won for her.

Ella raised an eyebrow as Erin began to speak, her gaze lowered as she noticed the Canadian’s arm begin to move from around her back. “Oh,” she whispered shyly as her cheeks heated up and soon enough they felt like they were on fire. She reached out to take a hold of it with a smile.

“Yeah, the poor fella was crying, so I thought I would bring him home,” she laughed lightly.

Ella bit her lip in attempt to bite back the massive shy grin that was threatening to break out and she shook her head slightly as her gaze stayed glued to the bear, she brought it up and buried her face against its head. “You’re sweet… thank you,” she mumbled.

Erin stared at her with a bright smile on her face which only grew by the American’s actions, the younger girl was honestly the most cutest person she had even seen and she was only getting more adorable the longer she spent around her. “And you’re adorable,” she whispered sincerely.

Ella looked up and over the teddy bears head, giving the Canadian a shy expression. Her face,

neck and ears all tinted red. “I…” she began but instead lowered the bear and instantly moved forward to wrap her arms around the older girl’s waist, her head resting on the girl’s chest.

Smiling even more brightly, Erin moved to wrap her arms around Ella in return, a bundle of nerves fluttered throughout her entire body at how perfect it always felt hugging the girl and in that moment she knew that she was slowly but surely falling in love with the American. _God, I am so screwed…_ Erin thought to herself as she had never felt this way about someone that fast and in a way it scared her but also, she didn’t care, because in truth, as corny as it might sound, she’d wait a lifetime just to be able to call Ella hers.

They stood there for a moment or so until they pulled away and stared at each other. The younger girl looked up at her with a shy soft grin as Erin smiled softly back at her, she slowly began to lean in as Ella leaned up meeting her half way as their lips touched in a gentle kiss. The American was about to tilt her head to deepen it but instead heard an obnoxious wolf whistle sound from inside the apartment followed by a voice that Ella knew all too well. “Please not in public you two!!”

Ella pulled away while she groaned and buried her head into the Canadians neck as she slowly shook her head against it. “Just perfect…” She mumbled under her breath.

Erin silently chuckled to herself as she hugged the younger girl just a little more tightly, her gaze fluttered upwards and into the apartment to see the blonde with a smirk on her face. Erin shook her head a little as Ashlyn winked and gave her a smug look before she continued to head towards her room to give the pair enough privacy as they possibly could in an apartment hallway.

As soon the blonde was out of sight, Erin tilted her head back a little and kissed the top of the younger girl’s head. “She’s gone,” she whispered into her hair.

Ella let out another small groan as she stayed in the position she was in for a little longer until she gave the older girl a little squeeze and pulled away to look at her, she sighed softly. “She is such a jerk.”

Erin laughed lightly as she nodded her head in agreement. “All best friends are though.”

All Ella did was nod her head in agreement as she leaned up and softly kissed Erin once more.

The Canadian kissed her back before she pulled away and smiled warmly at her. “I should probably head off now and hang with my roomies, I also promised them I’d bring them home some breakfast.” Erin announced.

“Okay,” Ella nodded as she leaned up to kiss her cheek. “Once again, thank you for bringing this lil guy back to me.”

“Of course. I will text you later,” the older girl spoke as she gave her one last squeeze and pulled away.

Ella grinned. “I look forward to it,” she responded as she began to turn around completely forgetting that she was actually near the doorway and ran straight into the frame. “Ergh, shit!” She instantly let out as her cheeks flushed red in complete embarrassment, she let out a long sigh as she rested her head against the doorframe while slowly shaking her head, knowing very well that Erin had seen what she had done.

Erin’s eyes widened as she quickly slapped a hand across her mouth, followed by the other one in quick succession, fighting the urge to just burst out in laughter. When Ella sighed, she quickly composed herself and moved a little closer to her. “Are you alright?” She asked softly. 

The younger girl just slowly nodded her head and then slowly pulled back to look at her with a sheepish smile. “Yeah… I am good, no worries,” She insisted.

“Okay, good.”

Ella smiled and turned to walk into the apartment. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Definitely,” Erin replied as she raised her hand in a wave. “Bye.”

“Bye,” Ella smiled as she watched the woman turn around and walk away, once she was out of sight, Ella shut the door. “Such an idiot, Ella, such a god damn idiot. Well done,” she sighed to herself as she turned around and headed for the kitchen.

\---

“Ew, stocktaking is so boring!” Ella groaned as she kept her gaze down on the piece of paper that she was highlighting behind the front desk, they had just finished the lunch hour rush, so, they had a few hours until the next rush came in.

Whitney laughed as she rolled her chair over to sit next to her best friend. “But once it is done, then it is all over for the day,” she tried to lighten up the mood.

“Bleh,” Ella sighed as she put the yellow highlighter down and looked up to Whitney. “I suppose you are right,” she shrugged as she darted her eyes around the girl to look at the computer screen

Whitney was currently occupied with. “How’s the re-ordering of stock coming along?”

“Swimmingly, I can’t believe we actually go through so much stuff each day. I honestly never imagined it would have ever been this busy at certain times.”

“I think the customers come by for us,” she laughed as she nudged Whitney’s arm.

“Oh, yeah. That’s definitely the reason,” she rolled her eyes playfully as she pushed away from where she was and slid back to her position behind the computer.

Ella laughed as she shook her head. “Nah, but I really love the rush hours – busy and all.”

“Secretly, me too,” Whit replied over her shoulder as the chime of the bell went off and the pair looked up into its direction, a smirk playing across both their faces as they saw who it was.

Ashlyn had just made her way back from the back room when they bell went off, she raised her gaze and an immediate dimpled grin took over her face, she made her way over and wrapped the person in a big hug. “Hey, Alex,” she spoke softly but loud enough for the other two to hear. “Heeeey, Aaaleeex!” The pair behind the desk mimicked mockingly.

Ashlyn turned her head and glared daggers at both of them causing Ali to giggle softly as she raised a hand to her girlfriend’s chest.

“Hey, baby,” she whispered as she leaned up to kiss her cheek.

“Aww,” the pair continued to tease.

“Will you guys just stop it?!’ Ashlyn said a little annoyed as she rolled her eyes.

“Babe, calm down,” Ali said soothingly knowing that they are only doing it to get a rise out of her.

“Yeah, babe… calm down,” Ella mocked and received a hard glare from the blonde.

Ali rolled her eyes as grabbed Ashlyn’s hand and reached up to the blonde’s face with her free one, she slid it slowly around to the back of the girl’s neck to pull her down, pressing her lips instantly against her girlfriend’s. “Ignore them,” she mumbled against her lips so only Ash could hear.

“I try…” Ash sighed into the kiss and fought the urge to pull back and tell her best friends to shut up once more at the obnoxious howling and whistling. The few customers that were in the store all had massive smiles on their faces. She pecked Ali’s lips once more and pulled back to look at her. “So, what do I owe the pleasure of this lovely visit?”

Ali just shrugged. “I was bored and I don’t work until five, so I thought I would come visit my cutie at work.”

Whitney let out a small chuckle. “Cutie at work…” she mumbled to Ella which caused the other girl to look at her and begin to giggle.

Ashlyn heard the laughing and rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m glad you did,” she smiled.

“Ash, why don’t you go take your girl out to lunch, we’ve got this covered for now,” Whitney suggested.

Ashlyn looked over. “Really?” Whitney just nodded.

“Sweet,” Ash smiled and looked to Ali. “So, how about it? You want to go to lunch?” “I would love to,” Ali replied with a nose crinkled smile.

“Awesome, let me just go grab my stuff and we can head out.”

“Alright.”

\----

After Ashlyn grabbed all that she needed, she headed back to Ali, said goodbye to her best friends behind the desk and took hold of Ali’s hand as she lead her out of the store, making sure to open and close the door for her, she got a light blush in response from her girl which made her smile just that little bit bigger.

They headed down to the little café on the corner and took a seat in one of the booths near the back. As they waited for the waitress to come over and take their order, they looked over the menu and then began talking about their mornings. Ashlyn’s was alright – a little boring though until the lunch crowd came in and Ali really couldn’t say how her morning was as she was asleep for most of it.

Once the waitress came by to take their order and they waited for the food, they continued talking about whatever they could think of, just enjoying each others company.

When the food finally came, they ate it in mostly silence because it was so good and they were too caught up in it, they would offer each other some of their own food every now and then.

Finally they finished and the young waitress came by to clear off their table, they paid for their meal and continued to hang around for a little longer not wanting to separate just yet.

“Ali?” A deep strong voice sounded from above them and they both turned their faces upwards to be greeted by a fairly good looking man.

“Hey, Declan,” Ali gave him a friendly smile but eternally groaned because he had been flirting with her nonstop for the past two years and it was getting on her last nerve – the guy just wouldn’t take a hint.

“Hey,” he replied as he kept his gaze on the brunette, not even giving Ashlyn the time of day or even acknowledging that she was there and that made her roll her eyes in annoyance. “Was wondering if I could take you out on Friday night?” He asked again, still hopeful that she’ll say yes one of these days.

“No, I am busy,” she quickly responded hoping he would just drop it and leave.

“Saturday then?”

Ali sighed and looked to Ashlyn with a slightly annoyed expression in which the blonde returned. She then looked back up to him and smiled politely. “I’m flattered you want to take me out on a date, Declan. But I am not single,” she informed him hoping that this would get him to back off.

“What? Who is he?”

“Firstly, it is none of your business and secondly, why would I tell you?” She quirked a brow.

His face softened and he gave her a charming smile. “Come on, Al. Just one date or at least let me buy you a coffee,” he continued to insist.

Ali rolled her eyes. “Look if you don’t mind I am already on a date with my other half,” she nodded towards the blonde who just smirked and quirked an annoyed brow at him.

“Wait? You’re dating a girl?”

“Yeah? Is that a problem?”

“No, you’re shitting me,” he shook his head in disbelief. “Seriously, Ali. Just come on a date with me and I will fix you.”

“Fix me?”

“Fix her?” Ashlyn said through gritted teeth at the same time Ali had said it.

“There is no way you are a lesbian, Ali. I mean look at you,” he gestured towards her and it was making Ashlyn’s blood boil. “You just need a good man to make you realize this and make you better.”

Ashlyn gagged and quickly stood up from her seat. “Listen buddy, stop being disrespectful towards my girlfriend,” she let out harshly as she clenched her first into a tight ball.

Ali quickly got up and stood beside her, placing an arm around her waist, her other resting lightly on her chest. “Ash ignore him,” she whispered lightly.

He gave an exasperated glare at the blonde and then looked towards Ali. “Do you seriously want to stay with a thing like that who is just influencing you in the wrong disgusting way?”

Ashlyn was about to gently move Ali away and punch the guy, when all of a sudden Ali pushed away instantly swinging her arm back and punching him square in the nose and hard, he stumbled back and fell on his ass.

“She’s a better person than you ever will be!” Ali let out infuriated by the guy as he quickly reached for his bloody nose. “Why the hell do you even care who I am dating? Shouldn’t the fact that I am happy be enough for fuck sake!?

“Fucking bitch!” He seethed out through the pain ignoring the rest of what she said.

“Just be lucky it was her that punched you, Asshole!” Ashlyn spoke through gritted teeth as she moved her hand to the small of Ali’s back and led her outside, not wanting to deal with the café’s manager at the moment.

Ali shook her hand at the pain coursing through it. “Why do people have to give a damn with who people date? Seriously, wouldn’t it be better to let me date who I want rather than be miserable being forced to date an idiot I don’t want to spend two seconds around and feel uncomfortable dating?” She sighed and shook her head.

“People are small-minded, Babe. They only have one thought about relationships set in stone and that’s the fact women should only date men and men should only date women. They don’t give a damn about your happiness and it’s really fucking sad.”

“It’s stupid, because I love you and I don’t regret being with you at all. I am not going to let anyone talk me out of it – ever”

Ashlyn grinned and kissed the side of Ali’s head. “Good, and I will never let anyone talk me out of dating you either, Princess” She paused for a moment as she realized what Ali said. “You love me?” She asked in a soft whisper.

Ali nodded as she grinned brightly, her nose crinkle showing clearly. “Yes, I love you, Baby. For about as long as I’ve known you and I am not ashamed of saying it.”

Ashlyn’s grin just multiplied if that was even possible, her dimple was showing just as clearly as Ali’s nose crinkle and she stopped walking to pull her into a hug. “I love you, too, Princess,” she whispered softly into her ear. Pulling back, she tilted her head and stared at her lovingly.  “I was waiting for a perfect moment to tell you that, but then I realized… whenever I am with you it always perfect.”

Ali blushed and lowered her gaze for a moment. She then leaned up a little and kissed Ash on the cheek, lingering for a moment. “You’re so cheesy, but I love it so much,” she mumbled.

“Only for you,” Ashlyn smiled as she pressed a quick kiss to her girl’s lips.

“It better be only for me,” Ali giggled and pulled back to grab the blonde's hand as they began to walk back to the music store.

“You should ice that hand of yours when you get home,” Ashlyn quickly stated as she remembered.

“I will.”

The pair finally made it back and Ashlyn once again opened the door for Ali as they headed inside. The store was getting slightly busier as the afternoon crowd started rolling in.

“Damn, better get back to work,” Ashlyn whispered to Ali as Whit and Ella hadn’t noticed her yet.

Ali pouted with a nod. “Yeah, you better,” she responded as she made her way over to the desk where the other two were situated.

“Ah! You’re back! Good,” Whitney quickly spoke out as she noticed the couple.

“Miss me?” Ashlyn teased

“Like a hole in the head,” Whit grinned.

“Alright, well I better head off and let you all work,” Ali announced. “Will I be seeing you all after work?”

“Yeah,” Ash and Whit responded as Ella was too busy with a customer – but they knew she’d be joining as well.

Ali nodded and then leaned up to softly kiss Ashlyn. “Bye, baby.”

“Bye, Princess,” Ash whispered with a huge grin and watched as Ali left the store before turning to see Whitney smirking at her. “Shut up.”

“What? I didn’t say anything!”

“Whatever,” Ashlyn rolled her eyes playfully and headed off to help any costumers that needed it.


	9. Chapter 9

Friday finally came along – after a long and extremely boring week – which had Ella pacing up and down the lounge room as nerves continued to pick up about going to the little bar that Erin informed her about during the week for her performance. Ashlyn and Whitney were sitting on the sofa just watching her with slight amusement on their faces, one was surely ready to just burst out with laughter any minute, but they gave each other a look to challenge who could hold it in longest. So far they were both doing extremely well.

“Ella?” Ashlyn’s voice finally sounded through the apartment, but the brunette didn’t seem to hear her as she began to rub her hands together nervously. Ashlyn almost cracked then but one look towards Whitney who had a smirk on her face - as if to dare her to let the laughter spill from her lips - made her quickly back track to a normal state.

Whitney just let out a small breath as she rolled her eyes and turned her attention to her other best friend, they had another ten minutes before they had to leave. “Els!?” She tried this time, but still to no avail. Ash and Whit both turned to look at each other before mentally counting to three in their heads.

“ELLA!” The both spoke loudly in unison.

Stopping in her tracks, she flinched slightly at the loudness as her eyes widened, she then looked towards her best friends in confusion. “What?”

Once again they both did everything in their power to not laugh as they finally got her attention. Whitney quickly looked away as she shook her head, while Ash just blinked a few times in amusement. “You’ve been pacing for the past fifteen minutes.”

“Oh…” Ella let out sheepishly as she ducked her gaze, she then made her way over to the arm chair and flopped down on it, letting out a massive breath.

\---

Finally it was time to leave and the other two gave congratulation glances for not bursting out with laughter due to Ella’s nervousness. They made their way down to Ashlyn’s Jeep and all got in before making their way to the bar. Once they arrived, Ash parked the car in a vacant spot, turned it off and turned to look at Ella who was slightly jittery in her seat.

“It’s like you are going on a date, Ella. Calm down, Babe,” she spoke in amusement as she looked in the rear-view mirror at Whitney who just had a smirk playing across her face.

“Right, yeah, no date… It’s not a date. Of course it isn’t,” Ella mumbled out as she looked from

her hands to the blonde and then out the window.

“Wow, okay. Let’s go inside before you explode,” the blonde quickly spoke as she looked at the two with a nod and then got out of the car. “Plus, I want to see if the other three are here already.”

“No, you just want to see if Ali is here already,” Whitney let out teasing as she chuckled slightly, she hip bumped Ella, which cause the girl to chuckle as well.

Rolling her eyes, Ashlyn sighed and shook her head. “Shut up.”

As they walked into the building, Pinoe was the first one to spot them. “Hey, there you guys are!” She yelled as she raised a hand to get their attention.

Ella smiled as she heard Megan first and she pointed to the table where the three were sitting, making their way over, they slid into the vacant seats. “Hey,” Ella let out with a smile and Whitney followed.

“Hey, Princess,” Ashlyn whispered as she leaned in and softly kissed her, this caused everyone to let out a fake groan of disgust. “Seriously shut up!”

“Hey, baby,” Ali smiled as she kissed her back, ignoring the noise coming from her friends.

“Are any of the Canadian here yet?” Whit asked the three girls and they shook their heads no.

“Alright, well I will go order us some drinks, you girls right?”

“Yeah, we are fine, thanks.” Pinoe responded to Whitney as she held up her nearly full beer glass.

“We pretty much just got here.”

“Alright,” she smiled as she turned and headed towards the bar to order three beers.

\---

Erin was more excited about performing than anything else, that her mind was only slightly on the fact that Ella would be there watching her perform. It was probably a good thing because she was able to mentally prepare herself for the night ahead and the fact she will be singing in front of most likely drunken people shouting out absurd things.

Following getting ready, the Canadians all made their way down to the the cars; three in one and three in the other like they always traveled. Once they got to the bar, Erin was feeling a little nervous as she sat in the car for a moment getting herself together, she always did this before a performance though, it was just to get her in the zone and relax her a little.

Finally she was ready and they headed into the bar, instantly they spotted the Americans at a table and made their way over to it. “Hey, girl’s,” Carm beamed as she went around hugging them all, the rest followed in tow, finally Erin at finished up at Ella and hugged her just that little bit longer which made everyone smirk knowingly, they knew they were on their to being something and everyone was really happy. Although Ash, Carm and Whit knew the struggles Ella was going through.

“Hey,” Erin whispered into Ella’s ear.

Beaming, Ella melted into the Canadian’s embrace. “Hey, yourself,” she smiled. “You ready to perform?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she spoke softly again.

The American just smiled and as they were pulling apart, she quickly kissed to Musician on the cheek causing her to blush a little as she coughed slightly, it also caused Ella to blush a little herself.

“When are you going on Erin?” Pinoe asked curiously as she took the woman’s attention away.

“Uh, when they finally start, there are three people before me.”

“Alright, cool. Want a beer then?” She asked to new arrivals and they all nodded yes. “Carmelina. You. With me!” She pointed at the curly haired girl with a smirk as she gently grabbed her shirt and pulled her away, it made the rest of the group laugh.

When the beers arrived they all toasted to a fun evening and began chatting about their week, no one really had anything interesting to say, but it didn’t really matter because the performances were starting.

“I should probably head up and get ready, see you after my song,” Erin smiled to the group and they all wished her good luck.

Ella was quick to grab the woman’s hand and gently squeeze it in encouragement and Erin felt ten times better about all of it.

Half way through the first performer’s song, a really cute guy approached the ladies and went straight to Ella, the rest of the girl’s were too caught up talking to even realize. “Hey, don’t you work at Electrical Beats?” He asked in a friendly tone.

“I Do,” Ella nodded.

“Ahh! I thought I recognized you, I see you most mornings on my way to work. I’m Anthony,” he smiled. “I don’t really know anyone here, so, I was wondering if I could hang with you lot?”

“It’s lovely to meet you, Anthony,” Ella smiled and then nodded. “Of course you can. I’m Ella,” she held out her hand.

“Lovely to meet you too, Ella,” he shook her hand and sat on the vacant seat next to her.

“So, what are you doing here all by yourself if you don’t know anyone?”

“Oh, I was meant to come here with a date, but he texted me a few minutes ago saying he couldn’t make it, thought I would just stick around and get to know a few people and enjoy the performances.”

“Ohh, that sucks, sorry to hear about that.”

“It’s cool.”

They continued to speak, getting to know one another and laughing at some of the things that were said. The laughter had caught some of the girl’s attention and they looked on in confusion at who the guy was and why Ella was so chummy with him, they just hoped he would leave before Erin saw, but somehow they didn’t really think it was going to happen because they were too engrossed in their own little conversation to know what was going on.

Just as the second person finished and the third person got up to begin, Erin looked out towards where her friends were with a smile – that was until she saw Ella laughing with a guy and looking really comfortable with him. Her heart dropped to her stomach and now all the hype she had built up had left her and she suddenly didn’t feel like performing, but she had to suck it up and do it, because the rest of her friends came out to see her.

“God, this is going to be a long night…” she sighed as she tore her gaze away from the duo.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick little update to get me back into the swing of things. I am a little rusty, so i'm sorry in advance if it's horrible.  
> Feedback is always loved, so go ahead a leave a comment letting me know what you think. 
> 
> haven't re-read this yet, sorry for any mistakes I will read it later and fix any I find. :)

“God, this is going to be a long night…” she sighed as she tore her gaze away from the duo, her hands gripping onto the guitar a little tighter as she fidgeted on the spot, everything around her had practically been zoned out as she stared at the floor, lost in her own little word that she didn’t even notice the person ahead of her finishing up their performance and then the fact that it was her turn. Erin was only brought out of her trance when she was nudged by someone, her eyes blinking a few times as she raised her gaze. “Huh?” She quickly spoke curiously as she shook her head.

“It’s your turn to go on,” the voice spoke, even though it was still a little distant.

“Oh…” Erin trailed off with a blush as she held onto her guitar tightly, so much that her knuckles started to turn white a little. “Thank you,” she mumbled as she dragged herself up onto the stage, waving a little at the crowd, the cheering from her friends dancing its way into her direction and she couldn’t help but smile. At least they were making her feel a little better.

“Uh, hey everyone, my name is Erin McLeod and tonight I will be playing a song that I wrote myself, it’s basically for someone who I’ve come to know recently and is a little special to me, so… I hope you all like it, please go easy on me with this one, this is the first time I will be performing it,” she cracked a smile. The crowd clapping in support to let her know they were behind her on this and she was appreciative of it.

\-----

Meanwhile, Ella was lost in her own little world talking to Anthony that she hadn’t even realize that the performances ahead of Erin had all been complete and that it was the Canadian’s turn up on the stage, the little speech that she said went completely over the American’s head as she laughed again at something the guy next to her had said. Ashlyn, Whitney and Carm instantly turned their gaze to Ella, the minute Erin said it was about someone a little special to her, but when she didn’t even flinch at the words, the three other girls looked between one another with a worry filled gaze, still wondering who on earth this dude was.

With the way things were going, the group surely thought that Ella was going to miss Erin’s performance altogether, their gazes flickering from the American to the Canadian and so forth, until they shrugged and just kept their eyes glued to Erin, showing her the support that their friend wasn’t giving her at the moment as she stood up there on stage and begin to strum her guitar.

However, the moment that she began singing, something in Ella instantly switched and her gaze quickly darted from Anthony and to the stage, instantly being drawn into the performance of the Canadian. Her voice captivating the American within an instant, her words filling her senses. Anthony stopped what he was saying the minute it happened, his own eyes moving towards the stage and then back to Ella and so forth, a smile pulling onto his face as he noticed the look in the music store worker’s eyes. He could tell she definitely had a major crush on the woman on stage.

Ella’s cheeks started to heat up as Erin continued to sing, the realization of what or more importantly who the song was about hit the American hard and she couldn’t help the smile that started to grow brightly on her face, this honestly was one of the sweetest things that someone has done for her and it only made her fall for her even more.

With the song coming to an end, all Erin could hear was the cheering and clapping of the crowd, she glanced at her friends briefly, not even bothering to look at Ella, because she was sure that she was still fixated on the boy she was with and then turned her gaze to the rest of the people in the audience, smiling and offering them a wave of thanks. After saying thanks, she took her leave off the stage, smiling at the people who came up to her and told her how great of a performance it was as she made her way to the table with her friends.

Ella’s grin never once left her face as she saw the other woman coming towards the, but when Erin didn’t pay attention to her, it started to drop, everyone around the table praised her while she took a seat in between Carm and Megan. Ella was confused as Anthony’s voice sounded off to the side.

“So, that’s the girl you’re kinda crushing on, huh? She’s really pretty and has a great voice,” he smiled.

“Yeah, she is and she does,” Ella’s blush only deepening, looking back to Erin, she leaned forward.

“Hey, you were really good, Erin,” she spoke over into the Candian’s direction, finally grabbing her attention for a split second.

“Thank you,” Erin’s response was simple as she only glanced at Ella before turning back around to the next performing, the smile completely dropping from the American’s face this time.

About ten minutes had gone by where Ella tried her best to get Erin’s attention, but she was basically having none of it and Ella honestly couldn’t understand why she was ignoring her. Then suddenly Erin stood up from her chair.

“I’m going to get a drink, anyone want anything?” She asked around the table, but ignoring Ella and the guy. A majority shook their heads no, as they still had some drink from earlier, while Pinoe and Carm asked for another beer. Nodding, she took off to the bar.

This action caused Ella to quickly stand as well. “Want a drink?” She asked him, but he shook his head no. “Alright, I will be right back,” she smiled as she took her leave to the bar as well, stopping beside Erin.

Feeling a presence beside her Erin quickly looked to the side, her small smile dropping the instant she saw the American.

“Hey…” Ella spoke cautiously.

“Hello,” was the only thing Erin responded with as she turned her gaze back to the bar.

Frowning, Ella shifted on the spot. “Erin?” She tried.

“Hm?” Erin hummed not turning her attention to Ella.

“Why are you ignoring me? Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” she simple replied as she ordered the three beers.

Sighing, Ella brushed the back of her neck. “Obviously I have done something wrong, if you won’t even look at me or give me more than a one word response.”

“You haven’t done anything wrong,” Erin rolled her eyes. “Oh, look I gave you a five words response, happy?” she let out, bitterness lacing her tone.

Erin’s response caught Ella off guard and she bowed her head in confusion. “Uh… okay…” she mumbled out as Erin’s beers were placed in front of her.

“Just go back and continuing having fun with that guy, eh,” Erin muttered finally as she grabbed hold of the beers and headed back to the table.

“Wha—“ Ella began, confused even more by what Erin had said as she followed the musician’s figure back to the table then she looked to Anthony and it finally dawned on her what she was talking about. “Shit,” she mumbled.

“What can I get for you?” The bartender’s voice breaking her train of thought and she quickly turned and ordered herself a beer.

\-----

For the rest of the night, Ella tried to get Erin’s attention, but it was no use, because Erin just continued to talk to everybody else. Everyone, including Anthony, noticed the tension between the two, but they didn’t know what to say and they also didn’t want to make a scene about something that couldn’t honestly be nothing at all.

As the night finally came to an end, there was of course some awkwardness around the group. Anthony thanking Ella for keeping him company and wished her luck with the musician, Erin eyeing them with jealously until they all finally went on their way home.

\----

“What was that tonight?” Ashlyn wasted no time in asking once the door closed behind them.

Ella’s eyes widened slightly at the sudden question. “What?” She quickly let out. “What was what?”

“Ella,” the blonde articulated as she gave her a look.

“What!?” She spoke again, still thoroughly confused with what Ash was trying to say.

“What was with that guy?” Ashlyn made clear.

Scrunching her face up, she finally realized what she was talking about. “Oh," she whispered. “Nothing!” She sighed. “He was just a guy that got stood up by his date and wanted some company, he recognised me from work.

“Yeah, got stood up and wanted ‘company’,” Ashlyn rolled her eyes.

Whitney just continued flicking her gaze between the two, not wanting to get involved with the situation.

“Oh my god, Ashlyn. It was nothing! The guy he was supposed to have a date with him, texted him and said he couldn’t make it,” now it was Ella’s turn to roll her eyes.

“Wait, he got stood up by a guy?”

“Yes…”

“So, he is…”

“Yes, Ashlyn, he is gay, maybe if you took notice of him some more you might have figured it out,” she sighed.

“I wasn’t even really focused on him personally, was more focused on the _two_ of you.”

“Yeah, well, I got that now,” Ella shook her head.

“Think we all got the wrong impression.”

“Including Erin…” Whitney finally piped in.

“Shit, Erin,” Ashlyn spoke.

“And she won’t even talk to me, so I can’t even talk to her about it,” she sighed again. “You all just blew that whole situation way out of proportion.”

“Well, you did look like you were enjoying yourself.”

"Just because I was laughing or whatever with him, doesn’t mean I like him like that, I only just met the guy,” she ran a hand through her hair.

“We know that now.”

“But, hey, least we know Erin likes you quite a bit that she got really jealous,” Ashlyn shrugged.

“Not helping, Ash,” Ella pursed her lips. “I have to try and talk to Erin,” she continued as she grabbed her phone and headed towards her room, she was done with the conversation with her tow best friends, she just wanted to be alone.

 **[11:48pm] Ella:** Erin, what happened tonight wasn’t what you thought, can we _PLEASE_ talk… please, let me explain and clear things up with you.


End file.
